“God the Son Asks God the Father to…”
Sermon outline/slides are available HERE.
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.[a] 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them[b] in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself,[c] that they also may be sanctified[d] in truth.
Audio Transcript:
Pastor Thom Rittichier
Our Heartland heartbeat is not only, beat one, connecting to God and others, but it’s, beat two, changing us into Christ’s likeness. This morning, in the passage we’ll be looking at, Christ’s likeness comes over big. And there is a specific way in which he goes, in presenting this likeness. And then finally, the third beat of the Heartland heartbeat rhythm is continuing/carrying on Christ’s work of service. And that becomes clear to us this morning.
Let me start here by saying the intensity was quite overwhelming. That is, if you were in the right place, at the right time. And so it appears on Friday morning at about 7:30am, I was in the right place, at the right time. I was on South County Road 200 headed west, I was just about to the Blackford County Schools administration building, I was coming up that gradual hill, about to crest the hill, when the intensity was overwhelming! I want you to know that for nearly 17 years, I have run and biked this very road. But this time, when I came over that hill, I saw this brilliant, bright glow, and not just one, but there were three of them as I came over the hill. And that’s the first time I ever saw something like this, on this road. It kind of remined me of the burning bush experience, how it got Moses’s attention. It kind of drew me to it. And as it drew me to it, I also had to keep shielding my eyes from it, looking away from three of these glowing bright things, towards which I was headed, down the hill. Well, as I got closer and closer and closer, it became evident as to what this was. It was some brand new, county installed, road signs-two caution signs and a stop sign. And one saying stop ahead, the second was pointing out that there is a T road ahead and the third was the actual stop sign. And the sun shining, in all its strength, at 7:30am, at that angle, the intensity was quiet overwhelming! This wasn’t the only event like that, on this trip. When I looked to the East the tar on the road was glowing, with a yellow gold hewn and the water, from the two and a half inches of rain that day, was still there and shimmering in the sun. Now the reason I bring all that up is because that reflection of the sun shining, in all its strength, is a very fitting parallel to what Jesus presents to us in John chapter 17. And I’m going to ask you to turn there with me.
John chapter 17 is known as Jesus High Priestly Prayer, but as of more recent time, it’s been recognized as Jesus Prayer of Perparation. Often we hear the prayer in Matthew 6 referred to as the Lord’s Prayer. And that’s where Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray- “when you pray, pray like this…”. But that is more the disciples prayer than it is the Lord’s Prayer, because this is the Lord’s Prayer. Now it comes to us right after Jesus talked about “in this world, you will have trouble”. Notice with me, John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.” That there may be a calm, settledness of heart for you in the world. “You will have tribulation.” You will have pressure from an opposition, that’s literally what these words mean. There will be troubled, there’ll be some anxiety causing situations, there will be agitation in this world, you will have the pressure of opposition. But be of good courage, “but take heart”, be courageous, be cheerful, in this, because I’ve been victorious, “I have overcome the world”. I’ve conquered it. And immediately after saying that we have, chapter 17 verse 1, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come’.”
Matt read John 17:1-12 for us this morning. And I’m not going to repeat it, but I am going to pick up where he left off. This is Jesus earnest, heartfelt, hard exposing, interaction with his Father. His prayer, his intercession here…as he spoke to God, generally talked to Him about his life and what is going on…his prayer here, he specifically intended to include you and me on. Notice with me, John 17:20, where he says this, an intention of his heart, “I do not ask for these only,”-the disciples here,immediately present with him-“but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me.” Now for you and me, that’s the word of the apostles, which was recorded in the New Testament, and the means through which we have come to believe in Jesus, by the Spirit through the word, causing a new birth. So this prayer is designed, intended aimed by Jesus, to include you with me. He had you, all, on his mind.
Picking up now at verse 13, we read this, “now I’m coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I’ve 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. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate/sanctify/set apart myself, that they also may be sanctified/consecrated/set apart in the truth. I do not ask for these only,” What we look in on this morning is this, it’s God the Son, asking God the Father, to do some very specific things. Precious Lord, reveal your heart to me, hits here. And it’s almost so personal, that as he pulls back the veil on his heart, interacting with the Father, it’s almost like-Whew, that is intense! The intensity of that is overwhelming. Folks, when you really take time, as we’re going to do this morning, to see what he’s praying for, we’re going to have this full joy in our hearts, nearly needing to shield our eyes from the Shekinah Glory!
What he talks about here is this. First, we have Jesus confession of purpose. He just lays it out to the Father, he agrees with the Father. That’s what confession means. You say the same thing as someone else, you agree with them. Next is Jesus course of action, that he has been on and is on now. And then finally, in this revealing of the Shekinah Glory, the intensity is quite overwhelming, we hear Jesus cause, in prayer. So we’re going to start out with Jesus confession of purpose. Now, if you’re a believer, and that is an important if, if you’re a believer, then you and I are repeatedly spoken about here. Repeatedly, in the first part of this prayer is that he, as an individual, would glorify God. That the opinion of God, what is proper and fitting to what he is, Jesus would contribute in spreading around. That’s what glorifying is, you spread this opinion around. You can’t glorify God by making him more beautiful, powerful, wise, desirable, he is the epitome of desire, he is the height of wisdom and beauty. But we can spread around that opinion of him. And Jesus prayer here, is that he glorify God the Father in what he’s about to undergo. And then he immediately talks about his purpose. In other words, the confession of purpose has to do with what he’s saying, “these things I speak in the world”. And notice with me verses 11-13 where Jesus says, “I’m no longer in the world, but they”-his followers- “are in the world”. Hey, by the way, question…have you checked recently? Are you still in the world? Yeah, yep, we’re here. We’re here. Just like we detailed last week, it’s this world that we face, we’re here. Jesus said, I’m no longer in the world. But they are. And I am coming to you, out of the world to you, Holy Father. And he prays for them to be guarded, to be protected, to be preserved. “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me…While I was with them, I kept them”… I protected them. I had a watchful eye on them… “in your name”. And now he says, not one of them has been lost except the son of perdition….And these things I speak in the world.”
I’m saying what I’m about to say, in this prayer, for a purpose. He uses a word here that indicates clear purpose. It’s called a henna clause. It is a clear statement of what he wants, what he’s going after, what his aim is, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. What Jesus prays about here is remarkable. He’s on his way to the cross, he looks to have the Father glorified, the good opinion of him spread about and he says, My purpose in what I’m saying is that their happiness of heart may be the happiness of heart that I have. And when he says fulfilled, it’s a word like when you’re fishing and you’re catch is crammed full. Dr. Stewart, is that the result of your day of fishing, you have the stringer or the net crammed full? On your good day, yeah, it’s crammed full. And when it’s about dealing with a path or a road, it means this hollow thing, pothole thing is filled up completely and leveled off. His prayer is that his happiness of heart may cram your heart so that it’s full, that it may level your heart off in this world. I ride my bicycle around a lot and I’ve noticed when you come up State Road 3, when you hit the city limits it’s Walnut Street, there are some places, some hollow spots, that need to be leveled off. Have you noticed that? You’re trying to drive and you almost lose a tire and if you’re on a bicycle, whew, I have to watch the traffic and move over. So in this world, there’s these places that need to have your heart levelled off, a happiness of heart. And as Jesus prays, that’s his purpose. I’m saying these things in the world, that they may have my joy, my happiness of heart, crammed full, leveling off their heart.
Folks, I have had some interesting interactions after last week’s message about this world, and where we’re at, in the twilight of Christendom in the United States of America. I want you to know that in many respects, that’s not a bad thing. Because when it’s no longer the “in thing” to be a Christian and it gets marginalized, the impact of that message can be great. I’ve got a book here that I want to make available to you. It’s called Take Heart. And this is a follow up to what we talked about, because the twilight of Christendom is going on in the United States. And it’s not a time to mourn, but it’s a time of thrilling opportunity. Jesus is here praying for your heart to be leveled off in this world, to be crammed full of that happiness of heart that he had. If you’re wanting to preserve Christendom, that’s probably not gonna happen. But if you are wanting an impact of service for the Lord, then the opportunity on the horizon is bright. It intensity is nearly overwhelming. It’s your happiness of heart. Now question here. If Jesus unveiling his heart, points out clearly that his purpose is that those who are in the world have his happiness of heart in themselves, crammed full, leveling them off, how do you respond to that prayer request? How do you react to Jesus unveiling his heart to us? Precious Lord, reveal your heart to me. How do you respond to him revealing his heart like this? We say… Sure wish that the Christian church had more of a say in politics. Or would you like to see his purpose obtained? That there would be a happiness of heart in us, that we have this crammed full, leveling off going on in the world? Would you agree with that? Yeah, yeah, I think that’s where we want to go. I speak these things, my joy in you made full. Now that’s the confession of his purpose.
And now he goes to his course of action here. Here’s the course of action that he’s undertaken to obtain that purpose. It’s in verse number 14a, “I’ve given them your word”. Now, this course of action has with it an effect that he noted. And both are listed here. When he talks about his course of action, it’s clear, his course is that “I have given them your word”. When Jesus was here on earth he said this repeatedly. He said to Philip, for example. Have I been with you so long, and still you do not know me, Phillip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say to me, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I’m in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father living in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”, John 14:9-12. He repeated this, It’s not me. It’s not my words. I’m not coming up with this. It is the Father living in me who’s doing this work, believe me, trust me, this is what God is saying. This is the God who said, Let there be light. And there it was! The God who brought the entire creative order into existence by His Word. It’s this word that I’m giving to you. As a matter of fact, if we understand this correctly, Jesus Himself, living on Earth was this word of God to us. He was so committed to delivering what the word of God is that he is called The Word,, the living word. And his course of action is to give us what the Father has for us to know, to grasp and to hold on to.
And then he notes the effect of this. The effect of what happens is this, verse 14b, “and the world has hated them”. The word that he uses here is to detest. It’s the taste that they have in the mouth for this. It’s kind of like, we don’t want this man ruling over us. As a matter of fact, Jesus talked about a parable that way. He came, he was representing the Father. And they said, We don’t want him to rule over us. There’s a distaste that results in a hatefulness. Don’t tell me what to do. Who do you think you are anyway? Don’t boss me around. That’s the distaste that the world holds for God’s word, his direction, his law, his instruction about how to make life work. That’s what they have, a distaste for this. They’re hated for this.
This rings so clearly to me in an experience from my own life, before I was a believer, at Kent State University. It was during my sophomore year and there was this guy, his name is Kevin. And he’d had some issues with substance abuse and other things. I knew him from around. And he came in one day while I was in the cafeteria. And I noticed he looked different. And I said, Hey, how you doing, Kevin? He said, Good. And then he sat down at the table in the cafeteria. And he told me about how over that weekend, he had gone to his church, the church that his mother took him to as a child and he had accepted Christ and been saved. And he went on and talked to me about that. And I was like, Oh, I need to get away and stay away from this guy! That was the exact thing that I thought, I need to get out here and watch out for him. As a matter of fact, I would kind of anticipate where he was and go in the other direction when he was around. Now, believe me when he was into substance abuse, I didn’t think that way at all. I was like, Hey, Kevin, how you doing, bud? But not now, when he’s talking to me about this thing of Jesus and God, and God’s telling me, it’s like, I don’t want that. That’s the distaste that we’re talking about. That’s the detest, to avoid it, to stay away from it and to be hateful towards it. I remember, after becoming a believer…can you imagine of all things, through the ministry of Kevin and a couple of other folks…seeing some folks in my hometown, one was a friend of mine from high school, and I was talking to him in the grocery store. And I was asking, what’s going on? And I started to tell him about Christ and Christ coming into my life. And he looked at me, and he said, It is true! I heard about that, that you had become, you know, this. But I thought, he’s a cool guy. He wouldn’t do that. But it is true! And then he left and I never saw him again. Ever. You see, that’s what it does, this truth. This truth, being embraced, that he’s given us, His word. And we hold on to it, it causes this hatefulness, this being treated as if they never exist. So that’s Jesus course.
Now, we come to his cause in prayer This cause in prayer, the intensity of this, is nearly overwhelming. I want you to know, it’s overwhelming in a good way. It’s overwhelming, like the sun shining when its in full strength, in the spring. Yesterday, I was riding my bike a little bit and I rode by some houses that are near to my house. I saw kids outside, running around, heard their voices playing next door, they were outside running around enjoying the warmth of this first day of spring. That’s what we’re talking about here. The son’s intensity is shining here. This is concerning the plan that he has, his cause in prayer is about the plan and how it works. At this point, he is just hours away from his death. And then he goes away. For three days, three nights , then back for 40 days. And then he’s gone again. First of all, his request, verse 15, where he says this, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world.” This is Jesus speaking, and his request is not that “you take them out”. His request is not that. I want you to know that if God wanted us in heaven right now, all of us, we’d be there. But the plan, as Jesus pointed out in his prayer request, as he prepared his disciples, is not that “you take them out” of this, not that you take them out of the 21st century, with the twilight of Christendom going on here. I don’t want them out. Lord, save us from this. No, I don’t want them out of this. But this is what I do ask, “that you keep them from the evil one”. Now this word “keep” is the same one he referred to earlier. It means to put a watchful eye on them, to guard them, to preserve them, to protect them from injury and from loss in the midst of this, that you keep them from the one who is the slanderer or the poser, the appointed one, the evil one, that you keep him from having the victory over them. That’s what Jesus is praying. This is his cause in prayer. It’s the plan. Don’t take them out of this. Keep them in this. But watchfully keep your eye on them, to preserve them and protect them in the midst of it. That’s what he prays.
And then he adds this, verse 16, his earnest position. “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” This is very interesting, because what he is about to pray here is an imperative. Do you know what an imperative is? It’s a command. This is God the Son unfolding his heart, as a imperative, as a command, to the Father. Such is the earnestness of his petition here that he, under God the Father’s authority and control, directs the Father. He directs the Father to sancify them in the truth. Now if you have a footnote in your bible it might say this is to set apart. This is the idea. It’s like when you come home, and there is one bottle of diet Dr. Pepper left in the refrigerator, and you know that little caffeine boost might just be the thing to carry you over. But someone says, Oh, you can’t have that. I have to go to work. And I need to take that with me. You see, they have sanctified that Dr Pepper, they’ve set it apart to themselves. What Jesus is praying is for the Father to sanctify them, set them apart, make them different to you, for your ways. And he says how, here’s the plan, “in the truth”. The word that he uses here carries a double meaning, in and by the truth. In the realm of truth, by the means of truth. Your word is truth. It’s very interesting here, when Jesus initially expresses his confession of purpose it’s by his word, “I say this”, it’s his word. When he expresses his course, “I’ve given them your word”. And now, when he has the expression of what he’s committed to, it’s in and by your word. It’s the truth.
Folks, I want you to know, one of the most urgent, continuous and high level priorities is you’re handling the truth. You, with the truth of God’s Word. I’ve had people, believers, who have said that they find the Bible boring. I just don’t think they’ve spent enough time with it. But they say, I am so busy. I don’t have time I get distracted. Okay. There are two ways that God works to sanctify, to set aside, you in the truth. One of these is to put you in the realm of truth. This is talked about 1 Corinthians 13:12. This is where you just expose yourself to the truth. It goes like this, we all see dimly. We don’t see it very clearly. We see it dimly, as in a bad mirror. We see dimly, as through a bad mirror, the glory of the Lord. The impressiveness, the importance, the weightiness, the direction, the beauty, the wisdom, the desirability of the Lord, we see that dimly now. As through this bad mirror, the glory of the Lord being reflected to us. And by that, by this seeing it, we, as we expose ourselves to what we see, are being changed. This is God’s doing, he said, We are being changed from one expression of glory to another by the Spirit, who is the Lord. This is one way we do it. This is one way we get set apart to God, in His ways. We just expose ourselves and expose ourselves and expose ourselves to what the word has to say. And then the spirit, we being passive in this, changes us from one expression of what God’s like to another expression of what he’s like. And thus, we glorify Him, we give a good impression of him, this is a passive way it happens, by just exposing ourselves over and over and over and over to the truth of what God is telling us.
Now, I want you to know, that’s one way, there’s another way. And this is by the means of truth. This is by the means that he talks about in Ephesians 4:22-24, this is active on our part, this is where we get involved. In the first part, we’re just drinking this word in, and it’s changing us. In this part, we see where God says, Hey, this needs to be put off in your life. I need to make this change. Yesterday, my wife was talking to me, and she said, concerning the way I’m training the dog, this needs to be changed. Because the way I’m training the dog is like the Alpha Dog. And believe me, I’m gonna be the Alpha Dog to that dog! He’s not gonna be the Alpha Dog, I guarantee you that. So I’m training him like the Alpha Dog, and she says to me, this needs to be changed because you have a lot of us around here who are not the Alpha Dog. And I need to help them. Amen, right. So this needs to change. Now we have that in all kinds of ways going on, there are things that we hear that need to go out of our lives, and we keep tripping ourselves up over this, that needs to change. So what I see, this is not just to be put off, but I need to get a habit, a pattern of putting something else in its place, putting on. And that’s what Paul says, “Put off the old man, the old way of behaving, which grows corrupt, according to deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind that this can be changed, this can be different, and put on the new man”. And it’s not so much what you stop as it is what you start. Because what you start pushes out what you needed to stop, and you don’t even really need to stop it so much. Let’s just push it out. Amen. It just pushes it out, because you put this in its place over and over and over and over. Now this is in the active sense. And this is the way he sanctifies us, he sets it apart, to himself, in and by this truth, by our exposing ourselves to Him over and over. Folks, this is how he grows us. Jesus saved us, through faith, in his work. He’s about to say that here. And he saved us for this cause, to be set apart to God and His ways, by exposing ourselves over and over and over and over to the truth. We change by the Spirit, passive on our part, into that image. And then we see what needs to change, we put this on and it pushes the other out. Can I tell you this, counseling, you want to boil down what biblical counseling is? It’s this! That’s all it is. And all I have to do is figure it out, What’s got you snagged? And get you exposed to what God has to say, over and over and over, identifying what needs to be put off by putting this on so it pushes that off. And lo and behold, you’re sanctified, not totally, not completely, but progressively.
We need to move on. He says, Sanctify them with this mission, with this mission. He says in verse 18, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”. And he sends us. God sent him with the truth, the words that he says over and over, and now “I sent them into the world”, just like you sent me into the world, to carry the truth. And I want you to see how honest to God committed to this he is. I said that intentionly, Honest to God, this is God the Son, asking God the Father, being honest to God. See how committed to this he is, he says it this way, verse 19, “for their sakes I set myself apart”. I go your way, I go with you. I choose. You know, that’s a thing we get to do quite often, every day at least I get to do it every day, I would assume you get to do it, at least once or twice a week. You come up against something and you say, This is what I want. This is what I’m thinking. This person needs a piece of my mind. But this is what God said about this or that, what he said about the servant of the Lord. And then I get to decide, what am I going to do here? And when I go God’s way, I set myself apart to that. For their sakes, Jesus said, I set myself apart. When did he do this? Remember, in the garden, he’s there in the garden And he says, Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from me. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go here. I don’t want to go. This is Jesus, facing the consequences of sin. I don’t want this. I don’t want your retribution, you’re pouring out of your judgment on sin. If it’s possible, let this cup pass from me. But how does that end? Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done. And he consecrated himself, he went to the cross. And he guaranteed that this can happen in your life. For their sakes, I sanctify myself, for this purpose, that they also may be sanctified in and by the truth. That’s why I do it. That’s why I’m going to the cross, that they can join me in this. Folks, I want you to know that because of Christ’s doing that, we have guaranteed sanctification, guaranteed being set apart to God in these ways. And because of him, God the Father, God answering his prayer, God agreeing with his cause, God going along with his imperative, it is because of him, God the Father, you are in Christ Jesus. Who has become to us, this is what Jesus is to us, he is wisdom from God, he is righteousness from God, sanctification from God and redemption. We’ve got it. It’s guaranteed.
So let’s conclude this morning with this. That’s the intensity of the son, shining in his strength, interacting with the Father, shining in his strength. And do we trust him? Do we believe in him? You know, CS Lewis gave us a really, really good comment on this. He said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” I believe in the S-O-N, Jesus, like I believe in the s-u-n, because I see everything in the light of Him (it). That’s how you believe. I look at our world, this world. And I’m going to look at it in the light of the Son, shining in his intensity. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to do that. And Jesus prayer, shining in his intensity, is that you do that too.
Father, in heaven, we come to you and we pray. We pray in accord like Jesus prayed, that you would give us one set apart, Holy desire. One that is wholesome. It’s clear. It’s empowering. We pray, Lord, you give us that one passion. And Father for those who don’t pray that way right now, Oh Lord, just immerse them in the realm of the truth, so that the manner of dealing with the truth will reached them. In Jesus name, amen.
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