Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 17:6-19 (Ep. 44)

Episode Date: June 5, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers Dial In - John 17:6-19Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. We continue in our study of John's Gospel as we look at John chapter 17 verses 6 through 19. Let's dial in. John chapter 17 verses 6 through 19. 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 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. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come

to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the sign of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have

sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. There is so much in this prayer and we are truly just going to scratch the surface of all that is here in John 17. Jesus, in the moments before his death, has his concern, his thoughts, and his prayers completely focused on his followers. This is a high priestly prayer. And what I mean by that is that it is a prayer that Jesus is making on our behalf. This is not a prayer for him. This is a prayer for us. This is what Jesus does as our great high priest. And the book of Hebrews describes this in great detail. The motive behind this prayer and the fuel behind the fervency in which Jesus prays to

the Father on our behalf is love. John 13, 1 says, Jesus, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the max. Jesus loves his followers. He loves us now, and he will love us for all eternity. This prayer takes place, picture this with me, in the darkness of Friday morning. In just a few hours, Judas will come, and Jesus will be seized by a mob and be led away to a trial and then a crucifixion. In verse 9, we see that Jesus specifies those whom he is praying for.

He says, I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. Jesus specifies this prayer. This is not for every single person on planet Earth, but as we see in verse 6, for those whom the father had given the son to save. Jesus is praying to the father in verse six, before they were ever saved, before they were ever redeemed, they belong to you, father. You chose them before the foundation of the world. You wrote their names in the previous episode, but every single believer is a gift from the Father to the Son.

And here, Jesus is praying for all of his followers for all time that the Father has given to him. Jesus continues and prays in verse 11, Now this might sound complex, but it's so important for us to understand. Jesus is praying for the eternal security of Christians, that those who have come to him will never lose their salvation. Listen, if I could lose my salvation, I would have by now. If my salvation were up to me to keep, I would lose it. But my eternal security

is not up to me to keep, nor is it up to you to keep. It is up to Christ. I know that there are many people, movements, churches, denominations, and many different theologies that teach people that they can lose or forfeit their salvation. But that is not what the Bible teaches, and that is definitely not what Jesus is teaching here. The testimony of Scripture over and over and over again is that if you have saving faith, you will never lose it. And this is not a sparse testimony in scripture. I'll give you a few references. In Isaiah 51, 6, God himself says, my salvation will be forever.

Additionally, and we covered this in John chapter 10, Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. They follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish. And listen here, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one. Paul says in Romans 8, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ. The promise of scripture is that God's salvation is a forever salvation.

And that's what Jesus is praying here. Father, keep them, preserve them. We see this in first Peter one, that we have an imperishable undefiled inheritance that will not fade away. That is reserved in heaven for you. And that is protected by the power of God. Our confidence lies not in ourself, but in the power and mercy of the God who preserves us. And here, Jesus is praying that you and I, if we're in Christ, would be preserved by God. This is not a prayer that is unique to the Garden of Gethsemane, but as Romans 8.34 describes, it is a prayer that Jesus prays every single day for you and I.

He pleads on our behalf to protect and preserve us in himself. Now look to verse 15. Jesus continues and says, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. The church is never supposed to spend all of its time together. We are supposed to leave the church and go into the world and go bear witness about the glory of Christ. Jesus is saying, Father, I don't want you to take them out of the world, but they are going to go into the world, not to partner with or embrace or be seduced

by the sin of the world, but to take the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ into the world, not to partner with or embrace or be seduced by the sin of the world, but to take the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ into the world. Jesus says in verse 16, they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. God has a goal for those whom he has saved, and that is to be sanctified. This is a churchy word, and we've talked about this before if you've joined us in different episodes. But what sanctification essentially means is separation, but a separation from what?

From sin. Jesus is praying that his followers would be separated from sin. He's praying for our purity. He's praying for our holiness. Now, how is this possible? How can we be purified? How can we become more sanctified? Jesus tells us. He says, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. The Christian is sanctified by the truth of God's word. What transforms the believer is the scripture. It's the Bible. And as we permeate our hearts and minds with the truth of who Jesus is, God's spirit conforms us to himself. This is what Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 3.18, that as you and I behold who God is in Christ, the Holy Spirit uses that meditation,

that studying, that gazing, that beholding, that preoccupation with Christ to transform us into the image of Christ. The world is built on lies, on falsehood, on compromise. And the only thing that rescues us from that world of lies is the truth. And in the agony of this prayer, before Jesus is crucified, Jesus prays that his people would be people of truth so that they might be holy. Why is this important? Why is it important that Jesus's people are sanctified? Well, he tells us in the next verse, verse 18, as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. Holiness is important because Jesus is about to send his followers, and he sends us today into the world. We have a mission to accomplish, and holiness is critical to that mission. We've seen it in Matthew. We saw this in Matthew. Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Stay dialed in.