(BONUS EPISODE) October 5, 2025 - Sunday School with Peter D. Jones IV - High Priestly Prayer - John 17

All right John 17 high priestly prayer of Jesus

this is the final chapter in a five chapter section

in John known as Peace message fill in the blank,

please upper room discourse, right? Yep room

discourse The first four chapters are Jesus in

the role of prophet disclosing God's character,

His nature, we might say, and His will. Not certainly

the entirety of it, but certainly the aspects

of it that are going to encourage the hearts

of His disciples. Remember that they've had their

emotions jerked around all over the place, right?

In that upper room, they came in on a cloud nine

thinking He was going to be ushered any moment

into David's throne and and take his kingdom

and they were going to have a when they were

arguing about what their positions would be in

it right and all of that and Jesus has to severely

You might say give them some emotional whiplash

And reveals a whole bunch of things that are

very devastating to hear and but in chapter 14

That's where we get that famous section that

uses that a lot when he goes to visit people

in the hospital who are dying you know, let not

your hearts be troubled. He says that actually

twice. He starts the chapter with it and ends

with it. And so the truth that He's giving them

about God, God the Father, Himself, Jesus Himself,

and the Holy Spirit, right? Remember that all

three of them are mentioned in this plan. And

of course, it's not the sum and substance or

the entirety of it. In fact, Jesus near the end

says, I have more to say to you, but you're not

able to bear it right now, right? And of course,

they're running out of time because the Judas

and that whole entourage is coming very soon

to arrest him. But the things that he has told

them in those four chapters are meant to encourage

them. But there's, you might say, about halfway

through chapter 15, there's some words that...

You might say, well, how does it encourage them?

Because he tells them the world's going to hate

you, right? Well, he ends that whole section

with another famous verse in John that would

be 1633. I have said these things to you that

in me you may have peace, right? In the world,

you will have what? More peace? Tribulation.

But take heart. Why? I have overcome the world.

Now, remember that for them, at that point, the

word world meant the Jewish system that was extent

at that time. For us, in applying this, it can

be the system that we're in today, the culture

and time that we're in. But those words are still

appropriate for us too. He has overcome. Thank

you for praying for our leaders. That's important.

We're commanded to do that. but we can take comfort

in knowing that Jesus and the Father are in control,

right? God is sovereign. We say that a lot here,

because you know why? Because it's true. Well,

it's not only true, but it's also the soil out

of which our peace and our joy grows, right?

Look at that last verse in chapter 16. I said

these things to you, that in me you made what?

Have peace right in the midst of so Jesus's words

of consolation to them in the last chapter and

a half That sound weird to us Well, how does

it how does it bring comfort to them to know

that that that world system or that? particularly

that Jewish system is going to hate them and

kick them out of the synagogues and and even

when it kills them Thinks that it's doing God

a service by doing that Well, he can say that

by saying that they will have peace not with

the system, but they will have peace in Him knowing

that He is Lord over that system and that He

is in control of it. And listen, Christian, the

circumstances that happen to you are in His hand.

It's not happenstance. It's not accident. Well,

maybe I slipped through the cracks. No. You can

take that to heart. He has overcome the world

and that's the ground of your peace. That's the

ground of your joy. Right? That's because of

the resurrection. Yeah. They didn't understand

that I believe at this time. They didn't understand

that peace because of all the things that were

going to happen. This was before he actually

went to the cross. That's right. But after that,

the resurrection... and they look back and they

can see the peace that they would have. That's

right. And I think a lot of that is the Holy

Spirit. Well, we can apply that today, too. That's

right, the Holy Spirit, yeah. Resurrection and

Holy Spirit, I agree. I think it's those two

things. And also one other thing we're going

to talk about in chapter 20, which is the resurrection

chapter, that's often left out, is Jesus' post

-resurrection appearances. to them as a group.

They gathered together as the Church and He taught

them. He opened the Scriptures. It says that

about the two disciples and wrote to Emmaus,

but it sort of characterizes, I think, what He

was doing after the resurrection. He was taking

them through the Scriptures and showing them

how the Scriptures spoke of Him and how He needed

to fulfill all of that. So yes, the resurrection,

that post -resurrection teaching, and then the

coming of the Holy Spirit. Did you have something?

It's just encouraging to me to see how patient

he was with him because I need that mercy and

that grace and that steadfast patience just like

they do. That's right. That's right. And he is.

That's right. And he cares for us as much as

he cares for them. And we'll see that when we

get to verse 20 where he prays for us as well.

And I like it because it shows us just how Now,

I would say they just they didn't get it. We

don't get it sometimes. We don't get what God's

trying to tell us. That's what he's saying. But

I'm saying is he kept repeating and repeating

and kept telling. How many times do we have to

do that? We have to get back, dive back into

the scripture. That's how we get our word from

him. And it's like, Rick, get this. Don't you

get this? Right. You know, that's why Chapter

15 is the back side. Go ahead and stop him. Bob,

you can help with that illustration. But you

know, that's why what he says at the beginning

of chapter 15 is so important too, right? Abide

in Me, right? Divide in the branches. That whole

illustration is meant again to help them and

us remember that it's not you come to Jesus one

time when you're 12 years old, walk the sawdust

trail, and then you've got your... fire insurance,

and you're good for the rest of your life. Do

you go to heaven? No, no, no. We need to stay

there, right? Because we need constant transformation

and sanctification. All of us do. Okay? We all

need that. We need to be reminded again and again,

like you said, Rick, and like you're saying,

Dad, and God is so patient with us, and He'll

teach us the same lesson again for the umpteenth

time. You know, that's like, oh, yes. We're thankful

for that. I remember. Yeah, yeah. John Calvin,

I think it was a great theologian of faith, he

said, I preach the gospel to myself every day.

And he's right. You're not your own. This might

be a good verse to hang a laminated piece of

paper from your shower that says when you wake

up in the morning, if you're like me, the first

thing I do is take a shower, right? You are not

your own. You're bought with a price. Every believer.

Oh, that's right. Today it's not me. It's about

him, right? Got to get that in our heads. I'll

bring Ezekiel and talk about stiff neck. Yeah.

Bob's got them. Leah, did you get one? Good to

see you this morning. Good to see you last night,

too. We get to talk a lot, so it's good to see

you. Okay. So, John 17, then Jesus takes off.

The prophet hat as it were and puts on his priestly

hat right and he starts talking now to the father

About first himself. That's the first that was

part one the notes entitled part one right now

We're in part two Jesus prays for his disciples

and then part three is coming up Which is where

Jesus prays for all believers, okay? And that

starts with verse 20 our section if you have

your Bibles you can turn there verses 6 through

19. I'm not going to reiterate because we spent

our entire time going back over, which we did

three weeks before our little trip to Europe,

which we enjoyed, by the way, quite a bit. So

I won't do that again. We've kind of been through

that. But basically, what I'm trying to do in

the write -up here on your notes, both pages

there, is to show the relationship between, in

our middle section of Jesus' prayer, the relationship

between the Father's keeping, it's translated

keep, okay, but it really means to protect. It's

not just, oh yeah, yeah, I've got something,

you know, like I give you my keys, you know,

here, keep this for me. Okay, yeah, whatever.

There's not a casual... keeping there. It has

the idea of protecting and guarding. And here's

the key concept. Valuing what you are protecting.

Right? Okay? And it's not just found with what

Jesus says how the Father has entrusted His people,

the Father's people now, to Jesus for safekeeping.

But now Jesus is turning them back over to the

Father for safekeeping, because he's going to

go to the cross and he can't guard them anymore,

right? And in fact, he's going to ascend to heaven.

We're going to see in our section. And he says,

I don't ask that you don't take them out of the

world, but that you protect them or keep them

from the evil one, right? And so he's entrusting

this treasure of God's people back to the Father,

as it were. But there's also a sense of keeping

in that these disciples have received this truth,

this revelation about God from Jesus, and they

are keeping it as well. So they value God's Word

and God's truth, and they show that by keeping

or obeying it, right? So you can go through the

notes there and you can see how that word is

used in other places, like where Jesus criticizes,

not criticizes, but maybe... Well, I don't mean

that negative way right but he he points out

to the religious leaders how they Keep or observe

their traditions above the Word of God, right?

So that in other words they value their traditions

over Scripture, right? And he uses the word there

that mean the same thing. The other thing is

is The giving right and and that expresses God's

love. Okay And so both of those two words are

there. God's love, love gives, right? Love gives,

love is invisible. It's seen in its effect of

giving, giving time, giving service, giving,

you know, listening to somebody, really listening,

okay, is an act of love, right? You're giving

your time to that person and your attention to

them. That's important. And by the way, that's

a different thing than hearing, right? I used

to tell all girls when they were growing up,

with these you hear, with this you listen. Listening

is active engagement of your mind, not just hearing,

not just waiting for the person to be quiet so

you can say what you want to say. Love gives,

we've seen that love protects, it gives, and

it works not only God to us and the Father to

the Son and the Son to the Father, but us to

God as well. How do you show your love? by keeping

His Word, by obeying it, right? You show that

you value and love God by obeying Him, right?

Jesus has already said that in His disciples.

So, let's get into the text then. And let's look

at our outline there, bottom of page 2. First

point is Jesus characterizes the disciples as

those who show they are God by obeying His truth.

One other pattern I want us to notice as we make

our way through this prayer, remember there's

three sections to it, right? Jesus has prayed

for Himself, disciples, and then all believers.

The main emphasis in Jesus' prayer for Himself

is glory. The middle section we're in is truth.

The emphasis is on truth. When we get to verse

20, it's going to pivot a little bit to unity.

And I'm just going to seed you with a thought

and we're going to talk about it when we get

to part three of this prayer. And that is what

is the difference between uniformity and unity?

There's some deep thoughts there, some profound

things that we're going to cover when we get

to that third section, okay? All right, but here

is truth, okay? So let's look for that as we

unpack these verses. So verses 6 through 8 is

point number one, okay? I have manifested your

name to the people whom you gave me out of the

world. Yours they were and you gave them to me

and they have kept your Word. Remember all the

things we just talked about. You know, you can

hear the keeping, you can hear the protecting,

you can hear the giving all in that one verse.

First of all, notice there's so much going on

here. The fact that they belong to the Father,

right? In our Bible study, now we're starting

in Ephesians, and we've looked at the very beginning,

the opening part of Ephesians, where Paul says,

starting in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us

in the heavenly realms with all kinds of spiritual

blessings in Him. He has chosen us in Him before

the foundation of the world. God the Father has

chosen and elected from eternity past people.

for Himself. They're His. That's important, because

as we work our way through this text, we're going

to encounter this word sanctify. In fact, Jesus

is going to use an interesting qualifier in addressing

the Father. That would be in verse 11. He says,

Holy Father. These two words, sanctify and holy,

have a relationship to each other. Holiness,

I was talking to my wife about this, and in fact,

you all may remember, this has been a while now

because I've been gone for a while, but in Ephesians,

in our Ephesians study, we'll revisit that here

later this month when we do the Bible study,

right, and I'll lead that. I'm going to remind

us again how important that word saints is in

Ephesians, as Paul specifically uses that word

to address believers. He doesn't just say believers,

he says saints, saints, saints, saints. And that

word simply means holy. That's all it means,

really. It's hagios, okay? And when it doesn't

have a noun, it's really an adjective, and when

it doesn't have a noun explicitly given like

holy spirit or holy kiss or holy city or holy

Sabbath or whatever, holy ground, it's often

translated by the translators as saints to drive

home the point that what he means, that the noun

is inferred. It means holy ones or holy people.

And Paul's point in calling the Ephesians, really

all the believers in that area, it may actually

be the church of the Laodiceans. But it would

include the Colossians as well, and that's a

circuit trailer. So in addressing all the saints

there, all the believers there with that word

saints, what he's reminding us is not that we

are morally superior to our neighbors, But rather

that we are God's specific chosen people For

his purposes and are set apart. All right, and

you're gonna see that in this text Okay, where

these disciples are those whom the father has

chosen. They're his people Okay, and they have

given he has given them to Jesus right and what

has she just done? I have manifested your name

to the people whom you gave me Out of where?

Out of the world. Remember in John 10, when he's

talking about, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the

door of the sheep, I am the Good Shepherd. When

he says, I am the Good Shepherd, near the end

of that, he talks about, he says, and I have

other sheep who are not of this fold, and them

also I must bring, right? And the illustration

he's using as he's talking about himself as the

Good Shepherd is that they've got these two folds,

okay? this Jewish system and then the Gentile

system. And what he's saying there is I have

sheep who hear my voice in that Jewish system

and I call them and they are coming out. They

don't belong to that system. They belong to the

Father and they hear my voice and they belong

to me as well, right? And then I have sheep,

thank God, in the Gentile. system as well, and

them also I must bring out. And so here you hear

this saying, even though the illustration is

not a flock here, but it's the same thing. You

gave them to me out of the world, right? It's

the same idea. It's the same idea. So, what are

we saying here? What is Jesus saying? Here in

verse 17, the main verse in this whole thing,

your word is truth. Sanctify them in your truth.

Your word is truth. What he's getting to is that

the thing that separates God's people from all

the other people is how they respond to God's

truth. When they hear the Word of God, it has

a different impact and effect on them. It draws

them to Him, as opposed to others who hate the

truth. Chapter 3, right? Men love darkness rather

than light or truth because their deeds are evil.

They love their rationalization. They love their

Darwinism. Buddhism or they love their Muhammad,

whatever other system is taking the place and

forming a construct of rationalization that helps

to suppress and push down and explain away their

conscience that's constantly telling them that

you're a sinner and you've got to do something

about this. You're in trouble with God. There's

all these other constructs that we make that

help us explain that away. But when you hear

the truth of the scripture, if you're God's child,

you'll hear His voice and you'll come to Him

and you'll realize, God have mercy on me, a sinner,

right? And thank God that He's provided a way

of escape. Alright, so you can hear this. So

again, these are saints, right? They're saints.

But they're not saints because they're morally

superior to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and

everybody else right there They're saints because

God has called them and that designation is his

doing not theirs And he is sanctifying them calling

them out of the world and the difference is Look

at the end of verse 6 there. They have kept your

word That's that word that same word that we

did the study on they have protected and guarded

it They don't just they don't just and I saw

We saw a lot of high church. Fletch and I talked

about high church versus I won't say low church

where I grew up. We didn't grow up in big cathedrals

and formalism. But some of these had these rituals

when they start their mass, their service. And

one of them is you've got this choir boy in the

robes and he's holding up the Bible. Have you

ever seen that? walking along and coming up the

aisle, holding the Bible as they come forward.

Well, that's not what he has in mind here when

he says, they have kept your Word. It's not just

that we have a book and we put on the front,

Holy Bible. Don't let any dust settle on it or

anything like that. It's the idea of they protect

and value the Word. for themselves, right? And

they obey it and they put it on a pedestal in

their own lives or put it in priority in their

own hearts, right? Not just that they've kept

it dust -free or hold it up as they walk in the

church. It's a form of symbolism, isn't it? Yes,

yeah. I don't mean to criticize that. No, no,

I get that. I'm just saying it seems like a form

of symbolism. Yes, it is, it is. And a lot of

these old churches in Europe, they have this

elevated little pulpit somewhere, a little spiral

staircase that goes up. That's where they often

read the Scriptures. And that's fine. But remember,

the Jews did a similar thing. If you've ever

been to a Jewish synagogue, they still today,

they'll have the scrolls there and they come

in with their scrolls. It's a big deal. They

even held one of the little pointers they have.

Metal pointer a little finger on the end usually

and it's sort of to help you keep your place

as you're reading And they show all this great

respect for them for the scriptures and Jesus

said to them These are they would speak of me

and you won't come to me, right? So the Bible

itself won't save you The Bible is God's instrument

by which he draws you to himself, right? It's

the voice of the Good Shepherd. We go to the

shepherd. We don't become enamored with With

the the printed word necessarily we we trust

the Savior that appoints us to All right, so

that's a lot I know but that's in verse 6 now

verse 7 John 17 verse 7 now they know that everything

John 17:7

that you have given me Is from you. What is the

everything that that he has given? Yeah When

he says that was it that the trick is Early in

verse 6 where He says, I have manifested your

name. God's name, when He says your name, it

doesn't just mean the covenant name of Yahweh,

right, or something. What He's talking about

is God's character, God's heart, you know. He's

addressing this prayer to the Father, right?

And God, think about this, God the Father specifically

chose that name or title for Himself out of countless

possibilities. I mean, He could have called Himself

anything. He chose Father and not only for Jesus,

but for us as well. And Jesus taught us when

we pray to pray to the Father, your Father. And

Paul says that He's given us the Spirit of adoption

by whom we say Abba, Father. the Spirit's work

in our hearts is to help us draw us closer to

God and to see Him as our Father. And that is

powerful. I remember as a new parent being very

deeply moved by that because I know my heart

from my children. It doesn't always come out

very well. By the time it makes its way through

my flesh, but I know my heart for them. I know

that I want nothing but the very best for them.

And to think that God, if that's true with me,

Jesus said, if you being evil know how to give

good gifts to your children, how much more? Your

Father in heaven, right? So that's an amazing,

amazing, amazing truth. Okay, so verse 7 now,

Now they know that everything you have given

Me is from you. So what is it that He has given?

That the Father has given to Jesus and that Jesus

has given to them? His words. Yeah, the truth.

Think about how... I've really been, as I've

been studying this, it's really been moving.

It's true whenever something is in the forefront

of your thought, you start seeing it everywhere.

And I've just really been struck with how incredibly

blessed we are to know what we know. Man, oh

man. I mean, when you see people, even a lot

of people who are in church and call themselves

Christians, that are biblically illiterate, just...

shockingly, biblically illiterate. I mean, just

basics, basics, basics. And they don't even know

that, you know, and it's, wow. So, so God, so

again, you hear, you hear this, the value and

the giving and the, and the receiving and the

protecting here, right? And, and not only are

God's People precious to him and you can hear

the father giving his precious people to Jesus

for safekeeping And now Jesus is giving them

back to the father for safekeeping But you can

hear the value of the word of God the truth and

Jesus has given that to them All right, and they

know that that is from the father remember Philip

Near the beginning of all this that show us the

father, right? And that's what Jesus has been

doing. He's been revealing That heart of God

is very different from the kind of God that they

grew up with in hearing. I would suggest that's

true for all of us. The longer that you spend

in God's Word and let God speak for Himself,

the more you'll fall in love with Him. But if

you let religion get in the way and photobomb

that, it'll give you a perverted or twisted,

or it may be an easily manipulated form of God,

but you won't love Him. the way you should and

worship her. Yes? So, I thought about this occasionally.

How do we discern how much time to spend alone

praying to the Holy Spirit that as we read the

Bible by ourselves, that we'll understand and

understand the tree. And then how much time should

we spend with other people in Bible study? Have

you ever thought about that or is there any kind

of indication? I don't know that there's a formula

per se, but I can tell you this. You punched

a button of mine. One of my pet peeves is people

who profess Christ who can't seem to find a church.

even really a Bible study. It's just me and my

Bible and Jesus, you know, and that's all I need.

Oh, my goodness. Now, the New Testament is very,

very clear as we make our way through Ephesians,

especially the chapter four. It's so abundantly

clear that that God has given gifts to your brothers

and sisters that He intends to them to give to

you. But if you if you're not there, you're going

to miss what God has to give to you, even in

your alone time with the Holy Spirit in the Bible.

It's just the way God has designed it to work.

But on the other hand, of course, the other extreme

is I get everything from Bible studies and church

and whatever and don't spend time in the Word

either. So I can't give you a formula, but I

can say Dad is right in emphasizing repeatedly

through the years that encouraging everybody

to spend time every day in God's Word in some

form or fashion and then be prepared. I would

say the more time that I spend in God's Word,

and not just read it to know stuff, but read

it to really hear God speak to you. And then

it sharpens you and encourages you and actually

creates more of a thirst in your heart for more

of it. And then when you gather with God's people

and you hear even more, it's like, yes, give

us any way I can get it, right? Any thoughts

on... on that yourself. Okay. Prayer, the Bible

says to be a constant state of prayer. Most of

the time we think prayer is like our morning

prayer or when we bow our heads or something

like that. But prayer is just communication with

God. That's right. So all the time, if you start

your day out by reading the scripture, meditate

upon that scripture all day. You know, and the

Lord will reveal things from Scripture. He's

not going to reveal anything that's not there,

of course. But He will reveal other parts of

Scripture to you as you meditate on that. That's

right, that's right. And wear ear buds and listen

to a service or something like that. Meditate

like mowing grass. That's what I do every time

I mow grass. Have a set of headphones on and

I'll put a sermon on. That's right. And I'll

meditate on that and mill light through, you

know, and even afterwards I'm thinking about

that. So don't confuse prayer with just 20 minutes

in the morning or 10 minutes or however. That's

something that we're constantly being communing

with God. It don't have to be Dr. Anderson, it

don't have to be anybody else. You just have

to talk to him. He wants that fellowship. Please

don't close your eyes when you're driving. You've

got to have that desire to be in the world. Some

people don't have as much time. You know, some

people may have an hour and a half, two hours,

whatever. But I'm saying that once you're in

there, devote your attention to that, and once

you start learning that, you're going to have

that desire. You're going to fall more in love

with him. That's right. That's the whole key

thing is he wants you to know him intimately,

to fall more in love with him. Same thing you

was with your spouse. You wanted, when you first

was dating, you wanted just to be with her, be

with her, be with her. You still want to be with

her. But I'm saying, when you first started,

it was so hungry because you were learning. Same

thing with him. That's right. The good thing

about the scripture is, it's all learning. I

mean, you'll never get to the total depths of

it. That's right. You just keep going. And like

you said, when you stem off other people's stuff,

like what Larry said, that's great. I totally

understand and believe that. You talk to them

and pray to them throughout the day, meditate

on what you hear. But you stem off other people's

talk and not necessarily just the church service.

but fellowshiping with people at work or whatever,

and listen to what they have to say. You may

not agree with it or whatever, but if you don't,

then get back in order to see if they're right

or wrong. And then, you know, use your judgment

there. But you've got to have that, you've got

to have that, you know, you've got to have that

fellowship with you. And like Larry said, ear

buds, listening, mowing grass, doing whatever,

working whatever. And it gives a good perspective

from someone else's point of view. Love you.

Only that they're a good Bible fit, you know.

Right, it comes with a qualification. Yeah, put

on some good messages. And there's lots and lots

of good resources out there. Some of them aren't

quite as well known as others, but they're still

very, very good. There's one thing about Bible

in the year, you know, you can't shelve it at

the end. Yeah. There's a lot of books you can

say, well, I've gained a lot of knowledge on

that. There's a lot to take in, yeah. Next? Yeah,

right. A lot of weeks. I don't know, we have

devotions at the end. Always do. That's right.

And like you said, there's no formula to it because

you're like, okay, here's four chapters. And

you'll get about three words into the first verse

and you're like, okay, that's about a half hour

of like, wait a second, I didn't see that before.

And then you cross -reverse it and you're never

getting to the other chapters. That's right.

That's right. That's my problem. That's why I

don't read. I mean, it's just like three or four

words. It's like... Wait a second, I never read

that in there before. I read it many times, years.

The pastor does that sometimes when he speaks.

I didn't recognize that. I've seen that verse

many, many, many times. It just wasn't the Holy

Spirit trying to show you that particular information,

which just seems to be very pertinent for the

time of your life. That's right. Or your maturity

or whatever. Yeah, that's right. Those secular

words do that, you know. That's why I don't,

I mean, me personally I know Dad and some others

really like reading the Bible in a year, and

I have done that, okay, but generally I don't

myself do that because I have that very problem.

I always hit some statement or some phrase or

something in there that makes me go... Whoa,

wait a minute. I just can't help myself. I just

got a drill down on that. You know what I'm saying?

So it's slow going for me. But yes, you're right.

And that's what meditating is all about, right?

That's what Larry is saying. Don't just read

it, check the box. Okay, I brushed my teeth,

had cereal, I did my quiet time. And then go

on about your day. Let it really soak in. And

you've heard me say many times, and I really

firmly believe in this, I guess my way of saying

the meditate thing is wrestle with the text.

Wrestle with the text. If something doesn't make

sense, wrestle with it and pray and seek resources,

whatever that is, whether it's a sermon or whatever,

and listen to others until it's resolved in your

thinking. And you'll really grow by that. So

God's truth, verse 7 then, God's truth, He says,

Now they know that everything that you have given

Me is from you. This valuable, valuable treasure

that God the Father has given to the Son. Remember,

throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus said again

and again, I came to do not My will with the

will of Him who sent Me. The words you hear Me

say are the Father's words. In John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

the second half, after the Nicodemus episode,

the second half, John the Baptist comes back

and he tells his disgruntled disciples, Effectively,

I'm of the earth and I'm only the witness from

the earth and I can only give you so much. But

He is from heaven. He's the witness from heaven.

And He's giving you the very words of God. The

very truth of God. Who God is. Who He really

is. Not who you want Him to be. Not who the world

says that He ought to be or any of that. It's

who He really is in His heart. And then verse

8. The words that you gave me right so if you're

in doubt about the interpretation of verse 7

verse 8 clears it up Right context this came

another key Bible principle, right? And by the

way if you are wrestling with the text something

doesn't make sense Look at a look at immediate

context first try to work it out very often you

can work it out from the immediate context That's

what's happening there And then sometimes you

very often too you'll need to reach into other

parts of scripture that speak more fully to that

issue But verse 8 there clears it up for I have

given them the words that you gave me and they

have what? received accepted them and have come

to know in truth that I came from you and they

have believed that you sent me the thing that

they were still not really clear about is what

exactly was his mission, but they knew he was

from God They absolutely knew that, and they

knew He was the Messiah, and they had received

these words. And Jesus has already, in those

four chapters, begun to disclose to them what's

about to happen in the hours, months, and even

years ahead, as things are going to go in a very

radically different direction than the Messianic

picture that they had grown up with. They knew

He was the Messiah and they thought He was going

to take David's throne and kick Rome to the curb

and usher in, reverse the curse and all of that,

all those Messianic prophecies. And Jesus is

saying, that's why I think that that segment

of time after His resurrection and before His

ascension was so important, because He had to

take them back through the Scriptures and carefully

parse out for them how those Old Testament Scriptures

really were fulfilled in this first coming, right?

That's very, very important. And that's why I

think we see so much quotation of Scripture in

particularly the Gospels, but really all the

New Testament, right? There's so much quotation.

Why is there so much quotation of the Old Testament

Scriptures? Because they are repeating to us

what Jesus had told them after His resurrection.

So verse 8, for I have given them the words you

gave me. They have received them and come to

know. in truth that I came from you, and they

have believed that you sent Me." Why is that

so important? Because the words that Jesus gives

are not just His opinion. It's not just His thoughts.

He's not some rogue, false prophet who's had

a vision in a cave somewhere that nobody else

knows anything about. No, this is coming directly

from the heart of God. I love that little phrase

in one of our hymns. Jesus blessed Redeemer sent

from the heart of God. I'm starting a study in

Colossians now with our Thursday Bible study.

And that's the whole theme of Colossians. It's

kind of a twin book to Ephesians. They're very

similar in many respects. But in Ephesians, the

Fathers take center stage in Colossians, at least

in the opening part. In the opening of Colossians,

Jesus is taking center stage. He is the exact

representation of God's being. He is everything

God wants us to know about himself we can see

in the sun. When you see Jesus being compassionate

to people and patient, like you said, with people,

that's the Father. He's revealing the Father.

Okay, so that's point number one I outlined.

Jesus characterizes the disciples as those who

show they are gods by obeying His truth. They

receive it, they hear it, and they know who Jesus

is. They're His sheep, right? They've heard His

voice. Now point number two, Jesus requests that

the Father protect the disciples in the world

system. Let's start with verse 9. This is 9 -12.

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the

world, but for those whom you have given me,

for they are yours. This is now the third time

we have encountered this almost exact same phrase,

whom you have given me. You find it up at the

end of verse 2, and given authority over all

flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have

given me. And then in verse 6, I have manifested

your name to the people you have given me. And

now in verse 9, I'm praying not for the world,

but for those whom you have given me. One of

the keys to Bible study, another one of the keys,

besides context as king and wrestling with the

Scriptures, another one is repetition is important.

It's there for emphasis. He's trying to drive

a point home, right? And the disciples are hearing

this and they're realizing, oh, wait a minute.

In fact, he's already told them, remember earlier,

he said, you did not choose me, but I chose you

and appointed you to go bear fruit. Right, so

they thought that they had sort of stumbled on

him and, hey, let's go tell Nathan, you know,

hey, we found the Messiah. No, no, no. It only

looks that way to you, okay. Woman at the well,

you know. Woman at the well, right, right, right.

And we have his wife. Yeah, Nicodemus too, you

know. He thought he was going to visit the Messiah,

but what he didn't realize was that he was being

drawn. I'm praying. Notice also he says, Who's

he praying for here? He's interceding for, as

our High Priest here, he's interceding for his

people, right? Not for the, not for the world

system. Does that mean that he doesn't care for

the other people who are in that system? Here,

in this case, he's not praying for the people

in that system. In other words, you can't just

yank that out and try to understand it. Look

at the rest of the context, particularly when

it gets down to verse 15, where he says, I do

not ask that you take them out of the world,

but you keep them from the evil one. Remember

that Jesus already in chapter 8 had said as the

light of the world, right? He had turned the

light on and he had, let's use this illustration,

he had parted the curtain and revealed that the

man behind their system was not who they thought

it was, right? It's not God, it's not Abraham.

You are sons of the devil. The man behind your

system is the devil, okay? And so I think what

he's saying here is leading up to, this is part

of like Romans and the Ladder, He's he's leading

up to this idea that his his prayer for protection

Is not necessarily just that whole system. He's

not asking that God the Father would preserve

that system Okay, he doesn't say the people in

the world He just says the world is the system

is referring out of this to this system that

is headed by Satan and is Marches under or wears

the robes of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob

Okay? And marches in their synagogues and in

their temple with their big scrolls, you know,

and make a big to -do out of God's Word, but

they refuse to obey it or even to allow it to

speak to them and come to Jesus, right? And so

what he's done is he's revealed that this system

is broken and it's under judgment. In fact, he's

already revealed that earlier. We looked at that

in chapter 16, right? That's verse 8, the Holy

Spirit. It's the prior chapter, chapter 16. And

when He comes, He will convict the world concerning

sin and righteousness and judgment. Sin because

they do not believe in Me. Righteousness because

I go to the Father. You will see Me no more concerning

judgment because the ruler of this world, of

this system is judged. He is not asking the Father

to preserve that system, but He is asking to

preserve the people who are the fathers out of

that system. Let me be clear about this. It's

not that He doesn't care about or love the unsaved

people who are still lost and deceived in that

system. It's that specifically here, as a high

priest, He is praying for His people who will

be persecuted by that system, just as He is about

to be. And He's asking the Father to protect

them. Right, that's right. Now that was for the

system. I believe it was. That was for the system.

Yeah, that's right. Don't give up on them. This

corrupt, corrupt system. Now that's who He was

bringing them for. On the cross, right? Right,

that's right. And you know, even John tells us,

chapter 12, like it is, that there were even

many priests who believed in Him, but they were

afraid because of their reputation. And they're

going to get kicked out of synagogue. Right.

And then there's two examples in John's gospel

of very highly placed, wealthy, influential people

who were the head of a part of that system, Nicodemus

and Joseph Arimathea. Both are examples of God's

grace, even to those leaders, right? The Jews.

So there are still many in that system that will

be called out. You know, that's not our tendency

to do though, forgive those that hurt us. Yeah.

Even if you love the Lord, our tendency is to...

If you say that's not your tendency, then you're

lying because most people have that honor. That's

right. They want to rebel by it. That's right.

That's the only way we are different. And I'm

not trying to bring this up when Erica mentioned,

not about Erica, but the guy got killed. Oh.

When she actually forgave that guy. I really

hope in her heart she did because she said it.

That speaks volumes for her heart, for not only

love for her husband, for her love for that.

The same thing with Jesus when he's on the cross.

It's hard to do. So that just speaks just how

much love and intensity of love that he had.

That's right. That's right. Yes. Vengeance is

mine says the Lord I will repay leave it to him.

We're not to judge them right delight in their

judgment, but to love them Why doesn't God intervene?

Why doesn't he just zap these people like he

did Ananias and Sapphira? I mean, why can't he

stop these wicked people from killing others?

Why doesn't he just zap them with a lightning

bolt? Wouldn't that be nice? You know that person's

dead they can't do they can't hurt others Why

can't it be like that because sometimes I think

he's We say we say stuff like that's been bad,

but he's gonna get bored somehow out of all this

From all stuff. He's gonna be cool. That's my

service, bro What if what if what if God had

done that? at first to Saul. Saul was a major

persecutor of the church, right? But God had

mercy on him and gave him, eventually caused

him to be, ironically, of all the people, right?

To the Jews and Hebrew Hebrews to be the apostle

to the Gentiles. God has a real sense of humor,

but God is patient. Well, we're no better than

they are. That's right. Peter and Jude both say

that God has done that in the past. He has destroyed,

like Sodom and Gomorrah for example, and the

world that was before the flood as examples.

But Peter says God is patient with you. Not wanting

anyone to perish. So He's patient. Alright, let's

close the prayer. Good to see everybody. Father

thank you for your patience with us. Thank you

for the value incredible value of your word the

truth that we have in front of us It's not something

we should take lightly at all But we should hold

it treasure it and and keep it and guard it and

protect it first in our own thinking and then

in our churches and our families and then and

hold our and then to our neighbors as well hold

it out and not be afraid to to share it and to

not to argue with others, but just from loving

to tell them the truth. I pray for your blessing

now on the service, rest of the service, and

the lunch today, the fellowship, and then the

Bible study this evening.