The Lord’s Last High
Priestly Prayer
~*~
Introduction
It was the night of the Last
Passover. Supper had ended. Judas Iscariot had left the table to go out into
the dark night to do the black beckoning of hell. When
he was gone, Jesus began to speak. He had many things He wanted to say to His
beloved disciples and He had a final prayer He wanted them to hear. Some have
called it The Lord’s Last High Priestly
Prayer. Of this prayer, Martin Luther wrote, “This truly, beyond measure, a warm and hearty prayer. He opens the
depths of His heart, both in reference to us and to His Father, and He pours
them all out. It sounds so honest, so simple; it is so deep, so rich, so wide,
no one can fathom it.”
The Scottish Reformer John
Knox had this chapter read to him every day during his last illness and in the
closing moments of life; the verses from this chapter brought comfort to him.
What we have before us is a prayer for the people of God. There is something
very special and tender about the Lord Jesus Christ praying. The Bible tells us
that Jesus was a man of prayer. Sometimes He arose a
great while before dawn to pray. Sometimes He spent whole nights in prayer. And
He taught His disciples to be men of prayer as well. The content of some of the
prayers of Christ has been recorded as per John 17. We can listen afresh to
Jesus as He opened His lips and said, “Father,
the hour is coming; glorify thy Son, that thy Son may also glorify thee.”
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also
may glorify thee:
17:1 The ‘hour’ referred to was the hour of
death. Seven times in the gospels Jesus referred to this special time. Unlike
other men, Jesus entered into the world to die a violent death. He came to die
in such a way as to spill His blood as atonement for sin, for without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. For Christ, the Cross was not
only the object of His destiny but also the means of being glorified. Dr.
William Barclay notes, “It is one of the
facts of history that again and again it was in death that great ones found
their glory. Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State once called him, ‘the original gorilla.’ But in the hour
of
Despite the attempts of the
Catholic Church to break her, Joan of Arc stood firm and in the end she became
a martyr for a great cause. Today, the 19-year-old peasant girl who heard
voices from heaven and led French armies to victory is respected worldwide.
Meeting death with dignity she achieved a measure of immortality in the minds
of millions. Joan of Arch found glory in death.
In the hour of the Cross,
Jesus Christ found glory. He delivered His message of triumph shouting, “It is finished.” During the days of
World War I, there was a famous painting made of a workman in rural
stringing wires across the open
prairies in order to advance communication. As the final
connection was made the workman listened in on the line. The painting
had a one-word caption, “Through!”
That said it all. Jesus cried, “Telelesti!
Through! Finished! Completed” The work of redemption had been accomplished.
The Lord gave His life that the message might get through that God is love. God
does love. God will love all that repent and come to Him.
As the Lord was concerned
that He be glorified so He was anxious to glorify the Father. The way to
glorify the Father is to obey Him. A child brings honor to his parents by
obedience. A soldier brings honor to his uniform and his country by obeying
superiors, especially in time of war. Jesus brought honor to the Father by
obeying Him even when that obedience meant death by crucifixion.
The Father was glorified and
in turn He glorified His Son by raising Christ from the dead. It is as if God
pointed to the Cross and said, “That is
what men think of my Son.” Then God pointed to the empty tomb and said, “That is what I think of my Son.”
17:1 There is something else to be noted and
that is for Christ, the way of the Cross was the way back to His home in
heaven. “Glorify me,” Jesus prayed, “with the glory which I had before the
world began.” The eternal existence of the Son is one of the great
mysteries and great revelations of the Bible. Jesus was like a solider or a
knight who had left the king’s court to perform a noble and dangerous deed. He
had to fight the Old Dragon called Diabolos.
He had to conquer the fear of death. Jesus had to brave the scorn of the
Sadducees,
the insults of the Pharisees, and the
skepticism of the Scribes.
There were many battles for
the Lord to engage in but He fought the good fight. He finished the course and
He was able to return home with all of His foes defeated. When Jesus returned
to His heavenly home, He was given a royal welcome. All the souls of the saints
and all the host of heaven stood up to honor His return.
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
17:2 Another way that God the Father honored
His Son was to give Him power over all
flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given
to Him. How many souls the Father has decreed to give to the Son is unknown,
but it is a vast multitude that no man can count. And to each soul Jesus has
promised the grace of eternal life.
The word for eternal is aionis. This word has as a main meaning:
the quality of life. Simply to have duration or longevity of life is not
enough. There are many people who exist for years but they are not happy for
one reason or another: poor health, unhappy homes etc. Life is endured but it
is without any quality.
3 And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
17:3-5 Jesus has promised the very life of
God to His own. The Lord promised the creatures of time could possess eternal
life of the everlasting Father and experience something of the splendor and the
majesty, the joy and the peace and the holiness which characterizes the life of
God. “This is life eternal,” said
Jesus, “that they might know thee, the
only true God.” Do we want to know God?
In a general manner, the
universal answer is, “Yes” for
mankind is incurably religious. All over the world, there are countless souls
that long to know God. J. I. Packer wrote a book many years ago called, Knowing God. Heathen people in the
darkest corners of the globe want to know God. Cultured and educated people
want to know God. The work by A.W. Tozer, The
Knowledge of the Holy, remains very popular though it was written over
thirty years ago. We must ask ourselves, “Do
we know God?”
To know God was an important
concept in the Old Testament. Such knowledge was wisdom. Only the fool
would say in his heart there is no God. Wiser men sought after Him. Proverbs
3:18 declares that “wisdom is the tree of
life to those who lay hold of her.” Habakkuk dreamed of a Golden Age in
which “the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the seas” (Hab. 2:14).
To know God involves an
element of intellectual comprehension. Through the Bible, God has told us what
He is like as to His nature, His attributes, and His character. There are many
facts to study about God as a person. The essence of His character may be mediated
upon with great profit.
For example, the Bible says
that there is only one God. When Father Abraham first perceived that, when the
Holy Spirit illuminated his heart and mind to that fact, it was a revolutionary
thought. Abraham came from a polytheistic society. The concept of there being
only one true God required an element
of intellectual consideration rooted in spiritual illumination. But once the
evidence was considered and the truth was embraced, there came tremendous
freedom. Now the one true God could be sought for the purpose of fellowship.
Many a missionary has
brought relief to certain cultures that embrace a horde of gods whom they do
not know and cannot please—though they try desperately to appease them. New
knowledge makes a difference in the world.
We need to study and find
out intellectually just what the Bible has to say about God and what God has to
say about Himself. When we do, we find wonderful things about the God of
self-revelation.
·
God is a spirit. John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth. Though Christ is the embodiment of
the godhead, bodily God is spirit and is not to be thought of as an animal or
some inanimate object.
·
God is sovereign. Psalms 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness
thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
·
God is a great Saviour from
personal distress and from the pollution of sins. Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is
become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my
father's God, and I will exalt him.
·
God is unsearchable. Job 5:8-9 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I
commit my cause: 9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things
without number:
·
God is full of tender mercy. Psalms 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for
thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
·
God is forgiving. Psalms 32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
·
God is glorious. Psalms 8:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name
in all the earth!
These
are just some of the things we can know about God. But really knowing things
about God is not totally satisfying. It is possible to become too academic and
impersonal with God, even if His mercy and grace is acknowledged and accepted.
To
know God involves something else. There
must be a quality to a relationship that supersedes all the collectable facets
of His essence and theological facts. There is a soul intimacy that cannot
be appreciated by mere objective knowledge. To truly know God is to have a
personal relationship with Him by faith. How is this possible? The answer is
primarily through Jesus Christ. To look at Christ and to believe in Him is to
know God, for in Christ is the physical expression of all that God is in
essence.
·
Christ is sovereign. He can make the winds to
hush and the dead to live.
·
Christ is a great Savior. “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you
rest.
·
Christ is unsearchable. He is Prophet, Priest,
King and He is the eternal Son.
·
Christ is full of tender
mercy. He
will even touch the untouchable. He will touch the leper.
·
Christ is forgiving. Son, be of good cheer, thy
sins be forgiven thee.
·
Christ is glorious. See him as the exalted Son
in the Book of the Revelation enthroned on high.
In
March of 1991 my daughter Tara, who was twelve asked me a profound question when
we were driving home from a hospital visit. She asked how a person can know if
they are a Christian? How can we know
if we know God? Five things will help answer that question on a personal level.
·
Is Jesus loved? To make it personal, “Do I love Jesus Christ?” Having not yet
seen the Lord, “have I learned to love
Him through the hearing of the Word and the testimony of the heart?”
One of the great love stories of the soul of this
century is that between the British author C.S. Lewis and the American woman he
eventually married, Joy. Through a series of letters, this couple began to
correspond with one another. When they finally met many months later, there was
a soul love between them based upon the words they had shared with one another.
Many of us who have read the Bible and have heard sermons about Christ have
grown to love Him whom we have not yet seen.
·
Is Christ believed? To make it personal, “Do you believe in Jesus? Do I believe Jesus
when He says that before the world began He, as the eternal Son of God, had
fellowship with the Father? Do I believe Christ when He says, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No one will ever come unto the Father except through me?
Do I believe Jesus when He says All that the Father has given to me will come
to me, and I will lose no one?”
Some
people, when they hear the teachings of Christ are angry. The Jews of His day
picked up stones because they did not believe His words. They thought He was a
blasphemer for He said that He could forgive sins. Do I believe the words of Jesus and rest my all in Him?
·
Is there a love for what
Christ loves?
To make it personal, “Do I love the
Church? Do I love the Bible? Do I love biblical sermons?”
Christ does. The Bible teaches that
Jesus loved the church and died for it. (Eph. 5:25) He also respected the
Scriptures and studied them in the synagogue where He opened up their spiritual
meaning. Those who have nothing to do with the Church nor the Bible nor gospel
sermons, how can they say that the love of God dwells in them?
Perhaps such souls are involved in a subtle
form of self-deception. On this matter, the Scriptures are plain. 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but
they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Do
you love what Christ loves? Have you turned your back on hearing the Word of God? On Bible study? On Church
attendance? On the fellowship of the saints? Why not return to Christ?
·
Is there an inner witness of
the heart that it has closed with Christ? To make it personal, have I heard Christ
say, “I am yours and you are mine?”
·
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:
·
Is there a difference in
life? To
make it personal, can I say, “I am not
the person I used to be”? 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are
become new.
·
Is God honored as Father? To make it personal, “Do I know God as Father-God?” The
Bible says that Jesus, with eyes lifted to heaven addressed God as Father—and
then He died. Jesus died for the very purpose of revealing the Father to men.
The prayer of Christ in John 17:1-8 was
answered. Never did Jesus ask for anything that was not granted and for this
reason. Jesus always prayed according to the will of the Father. And the Father
heard and glorified His Son. Therefore, bless His holy name and be thankful
that there is a prayer for the people of God. Amen and Amen.
~*~
There was sadness in the air. Something terrible was going to happen soon. The disciples knew it. Jesus was speaking with a sense of urgency at the Passover meal. He talked of leaving the world and going back to the Father. The disciples did not quite know what to make of all this. Perhaps if they reassured the Lord of their own absolute confidence in Him, He would not find it needful to speak of death.
The disciples found the
courage and said unto Christ, “Lo, now
speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb, Now we are sure [Lord] that
thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this
we believe that thou comest forth from God”
(John
16:29,30).
As Jesus heard these words from the lips of His disciples, a mixture of
emotions might have surged through His holy body.
There was the emotion of extreme gratitude. Jesus knew what the
disciples were trying to do. They wanted to encourage Him, comfort Him, and
reassure Him of their unbounded loyalty—and He was grateful.
There was the emotion of indescribable love. One by one Jesus had
selected the men in the room to be with Him and to become like Him. He was the
Master; they were the students. Some men, like Matthew, were extremely bright
and intellectual. Others, like Peter, were more emotional. For three years
these men had been together going up and down the land of Palestine preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God. There were many precious memories now, but
the close fellowship was about to end. Jesus knew that in just a few hours He
had a date with destiny and death. The Man and the hour had finally met and
Jesus must die for the sins of the world.
Before the ordeal of the
ages, the Lord wanted to pray in the presence of His disciples one last time.
Lifting up His eyes to heaven Jesus prayed.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which
thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and
they have kept thy word.
17:6 In the Bible, the term “name”
is used in a special way. To refer to the name was to refer to the whole
character of the person in as far as the person can be known. Psalm 9:10 says
of God, “Those who know Thy name put
their trust in thee.” The reference is not to a
special title but the very character and
nature of God. The Psalmist noted that, “Some
trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the
LORD our God” (Psa. 20:7). The
Psalmist knows that he can trust God because he knows something of the power
and the majesty of Almighty God.
Isaiah envisioned a Golden
Age whereby all men would know the name of God and thereby know fully what God
is like. Isaiah 52:6 “Therefore my people
shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that
doth speak: behold, it is I.” In John 14:9 Jesus put it another way when He
said, “He who hath seen me has seen the
Father.” Because of Jesus Christ all of the guesswork as to what God is
like can cease.
·
Men have wondered if God exits. He lives. He is the God who is there.
·
Men have wondered if God is distinct and separate from His creation.
During the time of religious confusion the Hindus of old decided that God was
not distinct from but was part of creation itself.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;
and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee,
and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I
pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am
glorified in them.
11 And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one, as we are.
17:11 Jesus Christ was going away. He knew
it, and the disciples knew it though they did not want to accept the reality of
that concept. Jesus Christ was going away. Very soon the sun would rise over
Palestine and Jesus would not be in the land. The disciples would sit down to
supper. They would look at the place of honor but their Leader would not be at
His familiar place. Jesus Christ was going away.
In the mind of Christ so
near and so certain was His departure from the Earth that He could speak as if
it were an accomplished fact. “And now I
am no more in the world.” And one
day all of God’s people will be able to say the same. One day, as it has been
since Adam, Death will come, the icy fingers of the Grim Reaper will reach
forth to claim the life. But if the heart is prepared, if the heart is right
with God, there will be the ability to say with sadness mixed with anticipation
“And now I am no more in the world.”
For Jesus, not to be in the
world did not mean the cessation of life. That is what Satan and the sons of
Satan would have men believe. Evolutionist and humanity unite with certain
cults to teach that there is no life after death and that the end of creation
is the grave. Because of Christ, the Christian community is persuaded of better
things.
“I am no more
in the world,” said Jesus, “I come unto thee Holy Father.”
The Son came from the Father
and the Son will return to the Father. Here is a great mystery that teaches
there is another dimension of time and space that is yet to be experienced.
There is a place called heaven. The Word of God has many things to say about
heaven.
Heaven is a better country. Hebrews 11:13-15 speaks of martyrs. These all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of
that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have
returned.
It is not hard to understand
how heaven can be a better country than the countries of earth. As great and
wonderful as America is when compared to other nations on earth, it pales into
insignificance to the better country of eternal glory for in that country there
is no bloodshed or violence. Mothers do not butcher their babies through the
partial birth abortion process and children do not carry guns to school to
shoot their classmates. In the celestial city women walk without fear of being
molested. There are no liars, nor thieves nor alcoholics. In heaven the voices
of the innocent are heard to laugh and sing. Heaven is a far better country.
Heaven is a place of rest. Hebrews 4:11 Let
us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief.
Heaven is the dwelling place of God. Heaven is much more than the place where
evil is absent and the saints find rest; heaven is the place where Almighty God
dwells. Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Now Jesus had already told
the disciples why He had to leave Earth and return to heaven.
First, the Lord had to return to heaven to be honored for His labors. That the Father honored the
Lord is declared in Matthew 28:18, “And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth.” On the day of Pentecost Peter spoke of the honor that the
Father had bestowed upon the Son.
Once Satan had offered
Christ the kingdoms of this world, but the Lord refused the temptation and
received not only the kingdom of this world, but authority over all heaven and
earth as well. Psalms 2:8 “Ask of me, and
I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession” (cf. Acts 2:25-36).
Then second, Jesus had to return to heaven in order to prepare a home
for His own. John 14:2 “In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you.” Someone has said that heaven is a prepared place for a prepared
people. Jesus has prepared for His own a place by entering heaven as a
Representative and taking possession of it on behalf of others.
A.W. Pink writes, “God never has, and never will, take His
people into a place unprepared for them. In Eden, God first ‘planted a garden’
and then
placed Adam in
it. It was the same with Israel when they entered Canaan.’’ Deuteronomy 6:10-11 “And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall
have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst
not, 11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells
digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst
not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full.”
Such is the nature of grace.
While we journey here on earth, Jesus is preparing for us a place in heaven.
But He had to leave the world to go to the Holy Father (John 17:11).
17:11 By using the words “Holy Father,” the Lord indicates that the twofold request He has
is ultimately a work of God’s holiness. The twofold request is for the
preservation and unification of His disciples. The request for preservation is
expressed in the plea “Keep through thine
own name those whom thou has given me.” It is a blessed thought that the
work of our final salvation ultimately rests upon the sustaining power of the
Father. And the prayer of Christ does not diminish the Divine decree of God
whereby He ordains whatsoever shall come to pass.
17:7-11 One of the great religions that Jesus
Christ challenged with His simple declarations was that of Stoicism. Stoicism
had been found 300 years before Christ by Zeno, a native of the city of Citium
[modern Larnaka] in Cyprus. Zeno would stand in the “stoa” or
colonnade at Athens and deliver his philosophy about life.
The three key words of Zeno’s creed were
materialism, monism, and mutation.
Zeno believed that
everything in the universe—every moment of time, every thought of the mind—had
some kind of bodily substance or material. He believed that everything could
ultimately be referred to a single unifying principle (monism). And Zeno taught
that everything is perpetually in process of changing and becoming something
different from what it was before (mutation). According to one professor, “Many of the men who flocked into the
Christian community during the second century had been educated in these
doctrines from their youth.” (Maxwell Staniforth) The teaching of Zeno
would be very acceptable to the youth of today for his concepts are still
pervasion reflected in the teaching of men like Carl
Sagan who speaks of the Cosmos, eternal
Matter, and Education (mutation). Jesus Christ declared that not only does God
exist but also He is distinct from His creation. “I leave the world,” said Christ, “and go to the Father.”
If ever men are to fully
appreciate God the Father, they must look closely at Jesus Christ. Dr. William
Barclay notes, “It is Jesus’ supreme
claim that in Him men see the mind, the character, and the heart of God.”
Not all men see the mind,
the character, and the heart of God and the Bible explains why. Man is born
physically alive but spiritually dead. The natural person is a soul without
spiritual life, without spiritual sight, and without any genuine hope. Every
impulse of the heart, every thought of the imagination, is away from God and is
centered on self.
Society steps in to curb the
natural tendency of the heart to be a god unto itself, lawless and accountable
to no one. Sometimes, society does a pretty good
job. Most of the time it fails. But what
society cannot do, what the home, and the schools cannot do, what the Laws of
the land cannot do for men and women
and young people is to give them true
spiritual life. Only the Almighty God can do that.
This truth does not stop
individuals from trying to change. The bookstores are filled to overflowing
with an endless array of self-improvement books. And yet, for all of the many
writings, the honest heart will confess that something is still needed in the
soul. The Bible calls this need regeneration or the New Birth. Jesus told
Nicodemus, “You must be born again.”
Educated and uneducated
people need to be born again. Good people as well as the dregs of society need
to be born again. Those who enjoy religious privileges need to be born again.
12 While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest
me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the
scripture might be fulfilled.
17:12 In our study of the Lord’s high
priestly prayer we have heard many petitions being made on behalf of believers.
We have listened as the honorable Son has asked the Holy Father “to glorify the Son with the same glory
which He had before the world was” (John
17:5). We have listened as Jesus lifted up the saints before the throne of
grace and requested an essential unity be manifested in the body of Christ.
And we have listened as the Good Shepherd has
requested that the sheep of His pasture be protected and kept from a final fall
from grace.
Jesus reminds the Father
that while He was in the world, He kept His sheep through His sustaining power
while depending always upon the essential glory of the Father. The Father had
given to the Son many pearls of Great Price. The Father had given to the Son
many valuable coins. The Father had entrusted to the Son specific sheep, each
one known by name. “And I have kept
them,” said Christ and “none of them
is lost.”
·
Though Thomas doubted, he would not be lost.
·
Though Satan desired to have Peter to sift him as wheat, Peter would
not be lost.
·
Though Matthew was a tax collator and hated by many as a traitor, he
would not be lost.
James and John, the Sons of Thunder, shall also be kept.
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, James the son of Alphaeus and Lebaeus whose
surname was Thaddeus as well as Simon the Canaanite, all these have been kept
by Christ so that none are lost—except one who is duly noted, Judas Iscariot.
Judas is called the Son of Perdition
“ for he it was that should betray him,
being one of the twelve” (John 6:71).
In recent years, secular
movies and sacred Bible commentators
have united in an attempt to reinterpret the character of Judas and present him
as a tragic hero. According to one author the great sin of Judas was that he
simply tried to force Jesus to establish His messianic
kingdom along the expected lines by
overthrowing the Roman government
and exalting Israel among the nations of the
Earth. According to this view, Judas
knew that Jesus possessed unusual powers and
abilities. Judas simply wanted the Lord to use His divine powers for the good
of Israel. But the composite Biblical picture is different.
According to Scripture Judas was first and last a covetous man. He was intrinsically a thief.
Judas watched carefully over every coin that came near Christ for he, not
Matthew—as one might expect—the treasury.
Second, Judas was a man of outward morality so much so that when Christ
announced that He would be betrayed by one of the Twelve no one looked over at
Judas with
suspicion. There was no outward
evidence that the Prince of Darkness held the heart of Judas captive so that to
him rightly belonged the title Son of
Perdition. To be called a Son of
Perdition means several things.
First to be a Son of Perdition
means that one is not a child or Son of God. Unlike the other disciples who were born
again into the kingdom of God, Judas remained of his father the devil and the
desires of his father he would do. It may very well be that Judas would not
have classified himself as being outside the circle of faith but he was.
·
Did the other disciples work miracles in the name of Jesus? So did
Judas. Did the other disciples preach the gospel of the kingdom? So did Judas.
·
Did the other disciples fellowship with the Lord? So did Judas.
·
At the Last Passover it was Judas who held the high place of honor
being seated next to the heart of Jesus at His right hand.
For all the outward similarities there was a fundamental difference and that is Judas found an occasion to actively hurt the Person and work of Jesus Christ and bring it to an end. Whatever the sins of the other disciples may have been they did not compare in magnitude or repercussion to the sin of Judas. As long as there was hope, the disciples believed in, defended, supported, and honored the Lord. Even Peter’s act of denial was not meant to hurt Jesus but to protect himself—and a lesson is learned. Sooner or later all who are the children of hell, all who are of their Father the Devil will find a way to
hurt Christ, and if not Christ, then His disciples. As surely as Ishmael mocked Isaac so will the sons and daughters of Satan mock Jesus Christ and all that is sacred and holy.
Second, to be the Son of Perdition means to abandon all hope of heaven. Jesus said that He saw Satan cast out of heaven. John, on the isle of Patmos saw in his vision Satan outraged because his time was short and so he made war with Christ. Satan knows that he has no home in heaven. Jesus stated plainly that hell was made for the Devil and his angels and by extension for all of mankind that will not repent and flee to Calvary. In Dante’s Inferno, there is a sign hung over the door of hell which says, “Abandon Hope all ye who Enter Here”.
Third, to be the Son of Perdition is to fulfill those Scriptures that warn of a certain judgment upon those who mock God. Mockery of all that is decent
and holy will not be allowed forever. Judgment will fall and God will be
glorified, either in His wrath or by the mercy He shows. The doctrine of eternal punishment is a harsh doctrine, which is why men hate it, deny it, and mock it but Jesus has spoken and the truth will not be changed. The Lord warned people of His generation as He preached in general, and He warned Judas in particular, that there is a place where the soul never dies and the flames of judgment are never quenched.
It is possible that Judas
did not believe in the doctrine of eternal judgment, or it may be that he
simply stopped caring if it were true or not. Sin does that to the heart. Sin
makes the heart so callous that the tears of Jesus mean nothing. The agony of
the Cross of Calvary holds no attraction. There came a moment in the life of
Judas that he abandoned himself so completely to evil
that Satan entered into his heart. “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed
Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve” (Luke 22:3).
Every person faces such a
moment of decision. There comes that critical hour of decision to choose
between heaven and hell, eternal life or eternal death, self or the Savior.
Christ shall keep those who, by the grace of God and the regenerating work of
the Holy Spirit, choose life. Those who do not repent, and do not turn from
sin, those who never weep tears of sorrow, those who do not know what it is to
love righteousness and the Cross, shall be known as a child of perdition. It is
imperative that people look inwardly from time to time and ask themselves some
soul-searching questions with judgment day honesty.
·
Do I know the Lord, or have
I just heard of Him by the hearing of the ear?
·
Have I ever experienced true
conversion?
·
Do I love self more than I
love the Savior?
The prayer of Christ for His
people is reassuring in that the Son will keep all the Father has given to Him
for He is a good Shepherd. But those who have not been given to the Son, though
they lived and exist in the sphere of His kingdom, are none of His, and they
shall fall away. John Calvin noted that “Peter
fell from grace, but Judas had no grace to fall from.” John Owen commented
that His election was to apostleship
only, and it was from that he fell.”
The last word of the Bible
on the life of Judas is that he went to his own place (Acts 1:15-25) A. W.
Tozer reminds us that every person has his own place. You have your own place
to go to after life and I have mine. Where will it be?
Joy Unspeakable and
Full of Glory
John 17:13
~*~
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the
world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
One of the great questions
of life is how to find joy. In a frantic search for happiness many people look
for joy in the use of drug and alcoholic beverages, including teenagers. Former
Surgeon General Dr. C. Evert-Koop contends that teenagers drink for several
reasons.
·
The advertisers have done a good job of associating sex appeal, power
and pleasure with alcohol. No one ever shows the pictures of people drinking in
the rescue missions of the land, of course.
·
The manufacturers have done a good job of packaging their intoxicating
product to make it look like a refreshing glass bottle of spring water.
·
Many young people (10 million in fact under the age of 15) are sad, and
so they drink and become alcoholics. Surprising enough, young people do
not necessarily turn to drink because of peer
pressure, but in order to alter the mood they are in.
The
sadness reflected in the hearts of the young only reflects the wretched
spiritual condition of the nation. The national social fabric is being ripped
apart by abortions, divorce, and dysfunctional families. If there is a common
theme that runs though most of the individual situations, it is that people are
on a personal search for happiness, but, like a playful butterfly, happiness is
always just beyond reach.
It is not wrong to want to
be happy. God has made man in his image, which includes serenity of character.
God once placed man in the Garden of Eden, a place of great delight. But sin
entered into the soul of man robbing the heart of
both peace and pleasure. Now the question
comes, “Can a person ever be truly happen
in life again?
There are a thousand ways
for to become unhappy. Each day dawns fresh and bright, full of hope and
potential. But each day seems to close with darkness, and the darkness reflects
the
damage done to a hurting heart for an unkind
word was spoken; a compliment deserved was withheld; someone did
something that created anger, resentment, and
jealousy.
A quick glance at the
evening news reveals this is true. Watch the faces that fill the news hour of
each day. Observer on the screen, the people from Washington DC to the Kremlin
of Moscow, from South Africa to the Middle East. The faces of mankind are not
happy. The deeds that men do create perpetual discord and strife.
A few years ago TNT tried to
do a news program called Good News. It soon became apparent that the general
public did not want to hear Good News; the program was soon terminated.
By observing these facts
about American society and the world in general the conclusion must not be
drawn that somehow life at the end of the 20th is worse than it was
in times past. No, the moral condition of the world 2,000 years ago was much as
it is today which made the presentation of the gospel then so appealing.
And in as far as the gospel
is faithfully proclaimed today it is still appealing for it meets the deepest
longing of the human heart. The problem is not that the gospel does not change
lives. The problem is that the gospel is either ignored or if heard, is not
wholly embraced. Still, it is good news that God has sent His Son and our
Saviour.
·
It is good news that sinful men and women and young people can have
hope.
·
It is good news that sin has been judged in the Person of Jesus Christ
and a soul shackled by chains of hell can be set free.
·
It is good news that the Saviour has prayed for the people of God.
In
John 17:13 Jesus Christ prayed that the people of God might have joy in their
hearts. The word “joy” is one of the
great words of the Bible. Webster defines joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the
prospect of possessing what one desires.” The focus of attention is upon
this particular emotion being evoked or drawn out by something or someone.
Religion can evoke this emotion of joy. Religious acts can create great moment
of joy as the heart is focused upon the
goodness
and greatness of Almighty God.
When
the children of Israel were delivered from the land of Egypt, the Bible says
that Moses and the people sang a song of unto the Lord part of which declares,
“I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The
Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation.”
When
the Ark of the Covenant was recovered from the Philistines the Bible says that “David and the elders of Israel, and the
captians over thousands, went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the
Lord…with joy.”
When the people of God made
their way to Jerusalem to worship during special times of the year strong
emotions were evoked on their journey and the
people sang together the words Psalms 48:1-2 “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be
praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 2 Beautiful
for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the
north, the city of the great King.”
Today,
many of God’s people still find great joy being evoked as they prepare their
hearts to worship. The week ends. There is Saturday and then comes the Lord’s
Day.
There
is a strong spiritual pull towards the things of God. A time and place has been
appointed for worship.
There
will be singing and prayer. There will be the fellowship of the saints. And
there will be a message from God’s Word. The Holy Book will be opened. Heaven
might come down and glory fill the soul.
One
cannot help feeling sorrow for the non-religious person. There is no joy of
anticipation and no joy of expectation of meeting with God and the Church of
the blood bought Redeemed.
Besides
joy being an emotion evoked by someone or something, joy is a state of happiness
or bliss. When Jesus prayed for the people of God to have His joy, He was
asking for that state of being which surpasses all understanding. The Lord was
asking for that stability of inner, quiet confidence.
The
joy of Christ can be known in the midst of person abuse. Acts 13:49-52 “And the word of the Lord was published
throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised
persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto
Iconium. 52 And the disciples
were filled with joy, and with the Holy
Ghost.”
The
joy of Christ can be known during fiery trials of temptation. James 1:2-3 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall
into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh
patience.”
The
joy that Christ gives can be known in times of great personal sorrow such as
the death of a loved one. John 16:19-20 “Now
Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto
them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I
said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and
ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and
lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow
shall be turned into joy.” Of course, this type of joy that Christ gives is not natural. It is
supernatural and it known only to be the people of God.
The
joy that Jesus prayed for characterizes His special domain as per Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
The
Lord was and is very concerned that His people know something of inner happiness.
When He departed He sent the Holy Spirit to be the Comforter. Before He
departed Jesus spoke many tender things for the expressed purpose that the joy
of the disciples might be full. John 15:11 “These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your
joy might be full.” Therefore, as A.W. Pink notes, “A miserable Christian…is a self contradiction. A joyless Christian is
one who is out of communion with the Father; other objects have engaged his
heart, and in consequence he walks not in the light of His countenance.
When
a Christian finds himself without joy as a state of being, several things can
be done beginning with an examination of the heart, a confession of sin—fully,
specifically, and honestly, and then a putting away of the same.
“A secret sin on earth is an open scandal in heaven.”
~*~
L.S. Chafer
~*~
14 I have given them thy word; and the world
hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out
of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
17:14-15 Isaiah the
prophet spoke of the Messiah as One who would hear the Word of God and give it
to others. “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should
know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by
morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” (Isa. 50:4). As the
Messiah, Jesus said, “I have given them thy word.” Unfortunately, the word that
Jesus gave was not popular. It was not well received. The Pharisees rejected
the word of Christ because it challenged their erroneous teachings. The
Herodians rejected the word of Christ because they had political aspirations
and Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are
Caesars and unto God
the things that are Gods.”
The people rejected the word
of Christ because they had a concept of how the Messiah should look and act and
Jesus did not act as expected. Without a firm foundation of faith the
multitudes easily changed and cried out one
day, “Blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord!” only to scream on another day, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” John 6: 66 tells us why. The Bible
teaches that when Jesus stopped performing miracles and spoke the plain truth,
individuals were offended. By rejecting the Words of Jesus, the Jews were
ultimately rejecting God Himself for Jesus says, “I have given them thy word.” Only a very few received Jesus. Out
of all the hundreds of thousands of people who lived in Palestine at the time
of Christ only a few believed and to them Jesus gave the Word of God.
But
it is a dangerous thing to receive the Word of God. It means in part to be
hated by the world. The use of the word “hate” is not too mild. A simple
examination of what happened to the Disciples of Christ reveal that Jesus was
right, the world really did hate those who received the word. See Foxes book of
Martyrs (pp. 2-4).
The conflict between the
saints and the world has not changed. If the church in America as a whole does
not know the hatred of the world perhaps it is because the church has not
seriously confronted the world with sin, righteousness, and judgment to come.
There are great social issues that the church has yet to address such as
abortion, the absence of prayer and religious instruction in schools, having a
fundamental respect for the Lord’s Day, the negative influence of
inappropriate pictures and literature, the
break up of the home, and the abandonment of tradition moral values such as
self-reliance, personal integrity, honor, trust, and faithfulness.
The world has not changed
its opinion of Christ or the Christian community. Jesus said that the disciples
were hated because “they are not of the world even as I am not of the world.” “Once Christians were of the world, they
followed its course, and were fully conformed to its policy, it principles, and
its aims. But grace has delivered them from this present evil world (Gal. 1:4)
so that they now have new affections, new interests, and a new Master” (A.
W. Pink).
Every Christian who takes
the Word of God seriously believes that a holy life should be lived. But the
question of just how to be holy remains for indwelling sin is real and
powerful.
This is a fact despite the
attempt of some to deal with indwelling imperfections a superficial way.
·
Embracing the doctrine of entire sanctification only serves to minimize
the presence of sin.
·
Reducing the sinfulness of sin to human error mistakes of the heart
only makes a mockery of evil.
·
Accepting moral corruption as normal behavior and making no effort to
be holy serves to promote the presence of sin.
So what is to be done? For
despite all the various theories swirling around the concept of sin to mitigate
its power and presence, the royal command is still, “Be ye holy.”
In reflecting on this matter
of indwelling sin, it can be noted that God might have done several things to
ensure a victorious Christian life.
·
God the Father could have
caused the saint to depart earth at the moment of salvation. But Jesus asked that this
not happen. John 17:15 “I pray not that
thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil.”
·
God the Father could have
entirely sanctified the soul at the point of conversion—as one day He will.
·
God could have removed all
opportunities to do wrong. It was not really necessary for Eve to talk to the serpent (world).
Bathsheba could have been led to have taken her shower elsewhere (flesh). Cain
did not have to get angry at Able (devil).
·
God could have made all
forms of sin repulsive.
But God has not chosen to do
these things as a rule. So the saint stays in the world, struggling to know
something of personal sanctification, by facing and resisting the opportunities
presented by the world, the flesh and the devil. Rather, and, surprisingly
enough, God allows Christians to be tempted, even though sin is often succumbed
to forming chains of habit that bind the soul to harmful habits.
Once enslaved, souls cry out
for freedom. Sometimes the cry for personal freedom can be heard on the lips of
pagans such as Seneca. Sometimes the cry for
divine deliverance comes from
the heart of a Christian who longs for more
of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work knowing that those who walk in the Spirit
shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). When the heart cries out
for help, the Word of God gives hope of
knowing something about a divine deliverance. However, before help arrives from
on high, the heart must be convinced of three things.
·
God is Good. The words of Satan in
Genesis 3:4,5 may challenge the goodness of God. However, if a person doubts
God’s goodness, they will not want to change. God will be viewed as Someone who
wants to rob and not enrich the soul. Also, change will be feared lest God’s
concrete demands are not ready to be meet.
·
The responsibility for any
inappropriate behavior rests upon one’s self regardless of childhood, society, or others.
If we are responsible, we are in control of our choices which means change is
possible.
·
Deliverance from the power
and pollution of indwelling sin is possible because of the promise of God (Gen. 3:15),
the boundaries of evil (1 Cor. 10:13), the examples of conquest (Ex. 17:9-16),
and the hope of the heart.
·
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.”
·
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it.”
·
Exodus 17:9-16 “And Moses
said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I
will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So
Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron,
and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held
up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek
prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it
under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one
on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady
until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his
people with the edge of the sword. 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this
for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will
utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built
an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: 16 For he said, Because the
LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to
generation.”
·
2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust
unto the Day of Judgment to be punished:”
In addition to these things,
some other general thoughts can be noted.
·
Sinful habits usually indicate unresolved conflicts in the soul.
·
God is to be thanked for the temptations of life for they provide an
opportunity to declare personal allegiance to Christ.
There are some ways to
arrest the progress of sin is in the soul.
·
Begin by taking a through tour of the heart and listing the areas that
need to be put to death: lust, greed, hatred, anger etc.
q
Confess the problem honestly to God. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
q
Realize that the ultimate goal is not personal victory over sin, but
God Himself.
q
Establish goals for the heart and mind to deal with that are both
realistic and godly all the while remembering the promises of theWord. Matthew
26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
·
Replace sinful habits with righteous ones.
·
Be prepared for the discipline of spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war after the flesh:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
·
Watch out for feelings of utter helplessness or of smug superiority for
there is a cycle to addictions which consists of humiliation, self
satisfaction, feelings of control and empowerment which goes to the point of
making hidden provisions for sin, then back to failure and compromise.
q
Jeremiah 8:4 “Moreover thou
shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? Shall
he turn away, and not return?”
q
Psalms 145:14 “The LORD
upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.”
q
Micah 7:8 “Rejoice not
against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness,
the LORD shall be a light unto me.”
q
Psalms 37:23-24 “The steps
of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he
fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his
hand.”
·
Find someone to trust for the purpose of accountability.
·
Remember the power of intercessory prayer.
q
Hebrews 2:18 “For in that he
himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are
tempted.”
q
Matthew 18:20 “For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
·
Learn well the truth that God’s
salvation is found in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Conclusion
The Word of God gives hope
and instruction in righteousness. May the Holy Spirit grant us grace to live
righteously and be wholly sanctified. Jesus has prayed that His disciples be
kept from the Evil One. It is a mighty prayer for the people of God.
An Essential Unity Among
Christians
John 17:20 – 23
~*~
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I
in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou
hast sent me.
22 And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
we are one:
23 I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me.
17:20-23 Jesus has already stated that no
sheep of His would ever perish, and still He prays for the preservation of the
sheep. The reason is simple enough. “God’s
decrees do not render void the use of mean!” (A.W. Pink) Many of God
decrees are accomplished through the instrument of prayer. Prayer is the
pipeline of the soul from earth to heaven. We must pray because Jesus prayed.
And while He prayed for us, the petition of our Lord does not diminish human
responsibility. The Bible says that only those who endure to the end shall be
saved.
The Bible commands
the Christian to watch, to pray, to resist the Devil, and to flee from
temptation. These biblical imperatives come in order to enable the believer to
be a mature disciple of Christ and yet ultimately, in the final analysis the
Holy Father must keep us. He must keep us from our intense inappropriate
desires. He must keep us from our anger. He must keep us from our greed. He
must keep us from foolish decisions. He must keep us humble lest our hearts
grow proud.
The Father must keep up in
all things and at all times or we shall perish! In times of sickness and in
times of health the Father must preserve us. In times of prosperity or poverty
He must keep us. In times of extreme temptation, the Father must keep us.
The Devil knows a thousand
ways to sink the gospel ship of salvation. Satan knows how snatch the good seed
from fertile soil lest it take root and sprout. The Old Dragon is powerful to
repulse the longings of the heart for holiness, freedom, and salvation. And
yet, for all of Satan’s cleverness, for all of his cunning wisdom to deceive
and to damn souls, the Father can still keep the elect secure so that not one
of them is lost.
The prayer of Christ for the preservation of
His people will be answered.
The second part of the
Lord’s petition was for the unity of the disciples. Christian unity is one of
the major themes of the Word of God. The Lord’s emphasis upon this topic is reflected
not only in the special prayer He prayed but in the typology that is used for
the Church. Seven figures are used of the Church to show her vital relationship
to the Christ and the essential unity of her essence.
·
The Shepherd and the sheep. John 10:11 11 “I am the good shepherd: the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
·
The Vine and the branches. John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me
ye can do nothing.”
·
The Cornerstone and the
stones of the building. Ephesians 2:19-22 “Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple
in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit.”
·
The High Priest and the
kingdom of priests. Hebrews 7:26 “For such an high
priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens;” 1
Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light:”
·
The Head and the Body with
its many members. Ephesians 5:30 “For we are
members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” 1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now ye are the
body of
Christ, and members in particular.”
·
The New Creation. A number of passages could
be cited to establish the biblical truth that there is a New Creation in the
life of a believer. The Old Adam is put off and the New Man emerges. The
believer experiences in the sigh of God a co-crucifixion, co-death, and
co-burial with Christ in order to experience resurrection power. Romans 6:2-4 “God forbid. How shall we, that
are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”
·
The Bridegroom and the bride. 2 Corinthians 11:2 “For I am jealous over you with godly
jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a
chaste virgin to Christ.” John 3:29 “He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which
standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice:
this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”
In each of these seven
typologies the essential unity between Christ and His people is expressed.
Jesus wanted, and still wants, that same unity to exist among the saints. There
is a unity that God’s people must strive for.
There is to be a unity of faith. Acts 4:32
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:
neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his
own; but they had all things common.” The Lord’s desire for doctrinal unity
finds itself in conflict within the church body because of specialization
reflected in the various denominations and auxiliary ministries. Many
ministries are established upon the principle of specialization on such topics
as soul winning, separation from the world, Bible doctrine, speaking in
tongues, or social action program.
The challenge for the church in this century
is to find an essential basis of unity despite the fragmentation of
specialization.
There is a way to meet the
challenge to unity and that is by individuals rediscovering a personal love
relationship with the Living Lord. When Christ is once more securely in our
hearts then we will love what He loves
and there will be peace among the people of
God.
There is a unity of service. It is the will of the Lord that His people not only
believe correctly but also work graciously
with each other. Grace is shown not
when things are going well, but when there is error, disruptive behavior, or an
offense taken. In times of stress
and tension, the Scripture must be present to guide the behavior of believers
lest we destroy each other with words that fatally wound the essence of
the soul. Now, “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that
ye be not consumed one of another.”
Jesus has prayed for His
people. And His prayer will be honored as believers love Him and each other,
all the while striving for essential unity, while supporting the doctrine and
direction of the church.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O
righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And
I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love
wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
17:24-26
Evangelist John R. Rice wrote one of the best books ever written on the subject
of prayer in this generation. The title of the book, Prayer: Asking and
Receiving. Dr. Rice argued extensively that a primary function of prayer is
to ask of God the Father expecting an answer,
“Yes”, “No”, or “Wait”. In His
Highly Priestly prayer Jesus has been asking the Father for many things. The
Lord has asked
·
that He be glorified (John 17:1)
·
that His disciples might be kept from ultimate ruin (John 17:11)
·
that there be an essential unity within the fellowship of His body
(John 17:11)
·
that Christians experience and enjoy a measure of inner happiness (John
17:13)
·
that believers be made holy and kept from evil and from the Evil One
Himself (John 17:15)
As
the prayer of Jesus unfolds, as His many requests are noted, it is instructive
to the observer that there is expansiveness. First, Jesus has prayed for
Himself (John 17:1-8).
Second,
He has prayed for the disciples (John 17:9-19). In John 17:20 the Lord looks
into the distant future and prays for all who will ever come into the Christian
faith. In particular the Lord desires that His people again enjoy unity in the
family of God (John 17:21-26).
By
making this request the Lord’s own faith is revealed. Jesus never wavered from
a firm belief that the Father was hearing His prayer or that men would en mass
one day follow Him.
Jesus
knew that shortly He would die. He knew that the disciples would falter and in
fear they would flee from Him.
But
Jesus also knew that the hour would come when the faith of the disciples would
be re-affirmed and they would die for His sake. Jesus never lost faith in God
the Father and He never lost His confidence in the men of His own choosing.
However,
the Lord was well aware of the frailty of fallen flesh. Jesus knew that there
are many things to divide and disrupt fellowship.
Two
thousand years of Church history testifies to the fact that not all Christians
want to organize the local assembly in the same way, or have the ability to
agree on all matters of faith and practice.
As
a result, there are assemblies that believe in a congregational form of
government. Others believe in an Eldership rule. Many a verbal and emotional
battle has been fought over the most biblical form of ecclesiastical
government.
Then
there is the matter of doctrine. Again, it is a general observation that not
all believers embrace the same doctrines. Christians have the same Book but not
the same belief and so there are significant differences to the point that the
best thing to do is to separate as Lot separated from Abraham (Gen. 13:1-12).
Perhaps
the greatest historical illustration of the need for separation took place in
the 16th century. By that time the Roman Catholic Church had come to
believe and teach that the soul is justified in the sight of God by faith plus
good works. “Not true!” cried out
Martin Luther. “The just shall live by
faith” (Rom. 1:17). In October 1517, the very foundation of Christendom was
shaken over the doctrine of justification.
But
it was only the beginning of discord. Once that issue had been settled in the
minds of millions, other doctrinal concerns arose which continued to fragment
and divide the Church.
There
was and is the issue of worship. Some people enjoy a sedate and predictable
form of worship based on a historical and concrete style using creeds, liturgy,
and symbols. Others want spontaneity and freedom, and openness to worship with
music and shouting and expressions of joy. Who is right? Who is wrong?
Only
one thing is certain and that is the end result, which is well noted by Dr.
William Barclay. “The cause of Christian
unity at the present time, and indeed all through history, has been injured and
hindered because men love their own creeds, their own ecclesiastical
organization, their own ritual, more than they loved each other.”Against a
forever fragmented and divided Church Christ prayed for unity in the family of
God.
The
only way that the Lord’s prayer will ever be answered is for there to be a
unity of personal relationships. Men and women must learn to love each other
because they love Jesus Christ. When that occurs, then the Church will become
an effective instrument to convince the world of the truth of Christianity and
the place of Christ as the messenger of God (John 17:21).
Such
a demonstration of love is not easy. Jesus had to ask for this divine love and
the Church must ask for it as well. But then the next step also has to be taken
and that is for the saints to strive for unity. The apostle Paul charged the
Church, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Prayer is to be made for unity
and then unity is to be pursued as a holy passion by conscious efforts.
A
conscious effort might include silencing a specific type of religious spirit
associated in scripture with the Pharisees. A Christian must therefore guard
the heart against a self-righteous spirit of condemnation. The first evidence
of this disturbing spirit is a feeling of anger that someone else is not living
up to expectations.
The
temptation comes to rebuke or reprove a person regardless of context and then
without graciousness of words or kindness of spirit.
It
is a blessed day when the world can watch a Christian community and realize
that the people in the fellowship are making every visible effort to be at
peace with one another by helping those in need, abstaining from unnecessary
criticism, and speaking gracious words when possible.
To
enjoy any essential unity in the family of God is to demonstrate the glory of
Christ (John 17:22). Jesus said that He had given His disciples the glory that
the Father had given to Him. But what did Jesus mean? Three things are
involved.
First, the Cross was for Jesus the place of glory. To be sure, there was
shame associated with the Cross, but there was also glory for in all the
suffering there came forth eternal redemption. We look at the Cross today and
cry, “Glory!” In like manner, the
Christian’s glory is the cross he must
bear.
Some Christians are asked to care for the hungry and the homeless. Their cross
is the challenge of finding ways to help the most needy.
“Love has a
hem to her garment
That reaches
the very dust.
It sweeps the
streets and lanes,
And because it
can, it must.”
~*~
Others
are asked to minister to the helpless and the most defenseless such as the
unborn. There are Christians who are called upon to suffer imprisonment for their
faith. Some believers will be given financial or physical hardships as a cross
to bear. The believer’s perspective is that it is an honor to suffer for
Christ. There was a time in Church history when knights rode forth to battle on
behalf of their king.
The
harder the task the knight was given, the greater the potential glory. When it
is hard to be a Christian, we must think of it as our moment of glory given to
us by God. And when someone asks, “Why do
I have to suffer?” respond by asking “Why
not you?”
Second, the obedience of
Christ to the will of God the Father was His glory. When Jesus was obedient in
the act of baptism there came a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
When Jesus preached the gospel despite the condemnation of the Pharisees and
healed the sick, prophecy was fulfilled. Isaiah had written, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:1).”
One
reason why Jesus could lay down His life by means of crucifixion was because He
had learned obedience
in
the ordinary ordeal of daily living—and that too was part of His glory (Hebrews
5:8). The Christian finds similar glory by seeking and performing the known
will of God. Of course, sometimes, when Christians try to do the will of God
there will be sadness and sorrow and distress of soul for the enemies of the
cross are real (Philippians 3:8).
But
there will be great glory as well for once more, the greater the act of
obedience, the greater the glory.
Glory
came to Abraham when he obeyed the will of the Lord and left Ur of the
Chaldees. Glory came to Moses when he arose and went to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go!” When Daniel obeyed
the will of God and continued to pray despite opposition, there was glory.
The
glory of the Cross is found in part in the great act of obedience that was
necessary in order to get to it.
Then third, the glory of
Christ is reflected in His nearness to God. People who know Jesus were certain that no
one could perform the miracles He did unless He was near to the heart of God.
Now as Christ, even in His humanity, was near to the heart of God so you and I
can be near to God as well.
“There is a
place of quiet rest,
Near to the
heart of God,
A place where
all is peace and rest,
Near to the
heart of God.”
If
we as Christians are to know glory then we must suffer for righteousness sake,
be obedient to the known will of the Lord and stay near to the Father through
prayer and mediation. There is one final request that Jesus asked in this
prayer for the people of God. The request is found in John 17:24. It is the
will of Christ that His people share
His
future. When time is ended, when days on earth are completed, the Christian has
a confidence that there is a better place, a far country, a heavenly home to go
to.
Most
people do not think of eternity until they are forced into a confrontation with
mortality through old age, a critical illness, or the untimely death of a
friend or loved one. But by then it may be too late to respond in a positive
manner. Ah,
but
for the Christian, there is a quiet confidence that the prayer of Christ for
His own be answered. Those who love the Lord will go to be with Him who “hath loved us, and hath given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor”
(Ephesians 5:2).
The
conclusion of the prayer is that the love of God the Father and the love of God
the Son might be manifested in the fellowship of the saints in order to
demonstrate an essential unity in the family of God.
~*~
Leader’s Study Guide
Questions and Answers on
John 17
1. List seven attributes of God
with scriptural references.
Answer.
·
God is a spirit. John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth. Though Christ is the embodiment of
the godhead, bodily God is spirit and is not to be thought of as an animal or
some inanimate object.
·
God is sovereign. Psalms 24:1 The earth
is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
·
God is a great Saviour from
personal distress and from the pollution of sins. Exodus 15:2 The LORD is
my strength and song, and he is
become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my
father's God, and I will exalt him.
·
God is unsearchable. Job 5:8-9 I would seek
unto God, and unto God would I commit
my cause: 9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without
number:
·
God is full of tender mercy. Psalms 31:7 I will be
glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for
thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
·
God is forgiving. Psalms 32:1-2 Blessed
is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
·
God is glorious. Psalms 8:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in
all the earth!
2. How can one be certain that
by looking at Christ they are looking at God?
Answer.
·
Christ is sovereign. He can make the winds to
hush and the dead to live.
·
Christ is a great Savior. “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you
rest.
·
Christ is unsearchable. He is Prophet, Priest,
King and He is the eternal Son.
·
Christ is full of tender
mercy. He
will even touch the untouchable. He will touch the leper.
·
Christ is forgiving. Son, be of good cheer, thy
sins be forgiven thee.
·
Christ is glorious. See him as the exalted Son
in the Book of the Revelation enthroned on high.
3. How is the term “name”
used in the Bible?
Answer.
In the Bible, the
term “name” is used in a special way. To refer to the name was to refer
to the whole character of the person in as far as the person can be known.
Psalm 9:10 says of God, “Those who know
Thy name put their trust in thee.”
4. Provide two reasons why
Jesus had to return to heaven.
Answer.
First,
the Lord had to return to heaven to be honored for His labors. That the Father
honored the Lord is declared in Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth.” On the day of Pentecost Peter spoke of the honor
that the Father had bestowed upon the Son.
Then
second, Jesus had to return to heaven in order to prepare a home for His own. John
14:1 Let
not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you.
5. Describe the character of
Judas.
Answer.
According
to Scripture Judas was first and last a covetous man. He was intrinsically a
thief. Judas watched carefully over every coin that came near Christ for he, not
Matthew—as one might expect—the treasury.
Second,
Judas was a man of outward morality so much so that when
Christ announced that He would be betrayed by one of the Twelve no one looked
over at Judas with any suspicion.
6. What does it mean to be a “son
of perdition”?
Answer.
·
First to be a Son of Perdition
means that one is not a child or Son of God sacred and holy.
·
Second, to be the Son of
Perdition means to abandon all hope of heaven.
·
Third, to be the Son of Perdition
is to fulfill those Scriptures that warn of a certain judgment upon those who
mock God.
7. List three pieces of gospel
good news.
Answer.
·
It is good news that sinful men and women and young people can have
hope.
·
It is good news that sin has been judged in the Person of Jesus Christ
and a soul shackled by chains of hell can be set free.
·
It is good news that the Saviour has prayed for the people of God.
8. What are three superficial
ways to deal with indwelling sin in the soul of the believer?
Answer.
·
Embracing the doctrine of entire sanctification only serves to minimize
the presence of sin.
·
Reducing the sinfulness of sin to human error mistakes of the heart
only makes a mockery of evil.
·
Accepting moral corruption as normal behavior and making no effort to
be holy serves to promote the presence of sin.
9. List ten ways to deal with
indwelling sin.
Answer.
·
Begin by taking a through tour of the heart and listing the areas that
need to be put to death: lust, greed, hatred, anger etc.
·
Confess the problem honestly to God. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
·
Realize that the ultimate goal is not personal victory over sin, but
God Himself.
·
Establish goals for the heart and mind to deal with that are both
realistic and godly all the while remembering the promises of the Word. Matthew
26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
·
Replace sinful habits with righteous ones.
·
Be prepared for the discipline of spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not
war after the flesh:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
·
Watch out for feelings of utter helplessness or of smug superiority for
there is a cycle to addictions which consists of humiliation, self
satisfaction, feelings of control and empowerment which goes to the point of
making hidden provisions for sin, then back to failure and compromise.
·
Find someone to trust for the purpose of accountability.
·
Remember the power of intercessory prayer.
·
Learn well the truth that God’s salvation is found in Christ. 2
Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new.”
10. List the seven biblical
images showing the essential of the believers to one another and to Christ.
Answer.
·
The Shepherd and the sheep. John 10:11
·
The Vine and the branches. John 15:5
·
The Cornerstone and the
stones of the building. Ephesians 2:19-22
·
The High Priest and the
kingdom of priests. Hebrews 7:26
·
The Head and the Body with
its many members. Ephesians 5:30
· The New Creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
· The Bridegroom and the bride. 2 Corinthians 11:2
11. Summarize the four prayer
requests of Christ.
Answer.
The Lord has asked
·
that He be glorified (John 17:1)
·
that His disciples might be kept from ultimate ruin (John 17:11)
·
that there be an essential unity within the fellowship of His body
(John 17:11)
·
that Christians experience and enjoy a measure of inner happiness (John
17:13)
Personal Application and Reflection
1. Please answer the following
questions in judgment day honesty.
·
Do you believe Jesus when He
says that before the world began He, as the eternal Son of God, had fellowship
with the Father? Yes / No
·
Do you believe Christ when
He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one will ever come unto the
Father except through me? Yes / No
·
Do you believe Jesus when He
says All that the Father has given to me will come to me, and I will lose no
one?” Yes /
No
·
Do you love the Bible? Yes / No
·
Do you love biblical
sermons? Yes / No
·
Do you love the church? Yes / No
·
Is there an inner witness of the heart that
it has closed with Christ? Yes / No
·
Have you heard Christ say, “I am
yours and you are mine?” Yes / No
·
Is there a difference in life? Yes / No
·
Can you say, “I am not the person
I used to be”? Yes / No
·
Is God honored as Father? Yes / No
·
Do you know God as
Father-God? Yes / No
2. Do you believe that God
treated Judas unfairly because he was from the beginning the “son of
perdition”?
3. If Jesus has prayed for the
essential unity of the church why is there so much division within the body of
Christ?
4. Have you been kept from the
Evil One or is there a stronghold in your life that leads to repetitive sin,
secret shame and self-loathing?
5. If you have been given
victory over secret sin and addictive behavior please share your testimony in
order to encourage someone else.
Leader’s Study Notes
John 17: 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name:
those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
17:12 One of the saddest stories in the entire Bible
is that of the man who kissed the Door of Heaven, literally, on his way to
hell. His name—Judas Iscariot. Judas could have eaten of the Bread of Life, he
could have drunk from the Well of Living Water, but instead Judas chose to
merely kiss the Door of Heaven and depart to his own place. In the end, Judas
was remorseful for the life he had lived and the deed he had done, but he
remained unregenerate, unrepentant, and unresponsive to true discipleship.
A word of warning goes
forth-to consider if our own heart is given to true discipleship, for in the
prayer of Christ, while the sovereignty of God is declared,
the responsibility of man is set forth. Observe
several things about discipleship.
·
Discipleship involves an intellectual understanding concerning the
Person and work of Jesus Christ. According to the Lord, His disciples will
understand three things.
v
The awesome power and wisdom given to Christ has its ultimate source in
God the Father (John 17:7).
No man ever spoke as Jesus
spoke and no man every performed the miracles which He did. Christ had to come
from God.
v
The body of truth Jesus taught is to be received without reservation
(John 17:8a). It was important for the disciples to believe these things in
particular about the essence of Christ for in His person the fate of the world
rest.
v
Only Christ has been sent (John 17:8b).
·
Besides an intellectual belief and a heartfelt assent to the truth as
Jesus taught it, discipleship issues forth in gospel obedience (John 17:6b).
Jesus said of His disciples, “They have
kept thy word.”
As long as an individual
continues to do as they will, that person cannot be said to be a disciple of
Jesus Christ. A true disciple is one who has accepted the mastery of the
Master. A true disciple
hears the Word and keeps it in principle and in
practice.
The old Puritans warned
their generation that as long as there is one area, one darling sin, one facet
of the life that is not sanctified and dealt with by Christ, then the whole
ship of salvation is in danger of sinking.
The Rich Young Ruler was
almost perfect, but Jesus said that he lacked one thing for he was covetous.
Christ comes to demand that His disciples deal radically with sin in order to
be proceeding in the process of being made perfectly in His image. Discipleship
is based upon certain beliefs. Discipleship issues forth in gospel obedience.
Discipleship is something that is destined by God.
For those who know something
of a longing to be like Christ, for those who know the shame of sin, and have
received the grace of a loving Lord, there is this precious point, discipleship
is something which is destined by God to be realized, for Jesus has prayed for
His people. “I pray for them,” says
our text. “I pray not for the world, but
for them” (John 17:9). What does this mean? It means that Jesus draws a
dramatic distinction between His own and all others. There is the world, and
there is His Small Flock. There is the world, the large portion of mankind, and
there is the Church, the called out assembly of God according to the principle
of grace. And the soul-searching question arises, “Am I among those for whom Christ has prayed?” Or, “Am I one for whom
Christ has not prayed for my heart and all that I am belongs to the world”? Are
you a disciple of Christ? Am I?
It was Dr. Martyn-Lloyd
Jones who observed that one of the greatest missionary fields for biblical
evangelism
is not the jungle tribes of Africa or the communist
of China but the local
church. People can be religious without being
regenerated and righteous. Jesus Himself and the Apostles found fertile soil to
proclaim redeeming grace in the synagogue or churches of their day and human
nature has not changed. The fields are still white unto harvest in the pews and
in the pulpits of this land. The litmus test of true conversion, the litmus
test of knowing genuine salvation, the litmus test of the confidence of being
united to Christ is discipleship. There who are given to Christ know His word and
they keep it.
· There is a submission to the
Lord’s will.
· There is sweetness of His
spirit in their lives.
·
There is a longing to please Him in all things.
May the Lord see His prayer
for His people realized in their lives.
~*~
Doctrine of Joy
1.
A common Hebrew word for “joy” in the Old Testament is derived
from gil,
to "leap," or "spin around" with pleasure; a
stronger term than simha (Ps 30:5;
etc.); masos (Job 8:19; etc.),
rejoicing;
2.
Greek. chara (Matt 2:10), gladness; the cause or occasion of joy (Luke
2:10; 1 Thess 2:20).
3.
Joy is a delight of the mind arising from
the consideration of a present or assured possession of a future good.
4.
There is natural joy. When moderate it is called gladness; raised suddenly to the highest degree
it is exultation or transport;
when the desires are limited by our possessions it is contentment; high desires
accomplished bring satisfaction; vanquished opposition we call triumph
and when joy has so long possessed the mind that it has settled into a temper,
we call it cheerfulness.
5.
There is a moral joy, which is a self-approbation, or that which arises from
the performance of any good actions; this kind of joy is called peace, or
serenity of conscience; if the action be honorable, and the joy rise high, it
may be called glory.
6. There
is a spiritual joy is called a "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22);
"joy in the faith" (Phil 1:25).
7.
Its objects are many.
·
God
Himself. Psalms
43:4 Then will
I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will
I praise thee, O God my God. Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with
the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and
as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
·
The
Promises of the Word. Philippians
3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 1 Peter 1:8
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory.
·
The
Gospel of Redeeming Grace. Psalms
89:15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O
LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
·
The
Prosperity of Christ's Kingdom. Acts
15:3 And being
brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria,
declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all
the brethren.
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel
sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall
reign for ever and ever. …17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great
power, and hast reigned.
·
The
Happiness of a Future State. Psalms
16:9-11 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall
rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for
evermore. Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 15:13 Now the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in
hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
8.
This
spiritual joy is permanent. John 16:22 And ye now therefore have
sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no
man taketh from you. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I
say, Rejoice.
9. This spiritual joy
is unspeakable.
1 Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not,
yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: