Ron Dunn Podcast - Jesus Prays For Himself

Episode Date: June 15, 2016

Pastor Ron Dunn preaches a message from John 17:1-8. This message is focused on Jesus' prayers to the Father.

You are listening to the Ron Dunn Podcast. Ron Dunn is a well-known author and was one of the most in-demand preachers during the latter part of the 20th century. He led Bible studies all over the United States, Europe, and South Africa. For more information and resources from Ron Dunn, please visit rondunn.com. A lot of people, when they start praying, you're praying too, that they won't pray long. As one man said some years ago, when somebody starts to pray, the first minute I'm praying with them, the second minute I'm praying for them, and the third minute I'm praying against them.

I have a pastor friend who I would like to have just travel around with me, just to do nothing but pray, lead in public prayer. I'm not talking about these so-called fellows that dip into a preacherly tone, you know, when they start to pray and speak of God and the Holy Spirit, you know. I'm not talking about that. That's theatrical. That's's performance I'm talking about somebody who enters into the presence of God and begins to speak to him just as naturally as you would speak to a husband or There are some people I love to hear pray. Well you know who I would like to have heard pray most of all? Wouldn't it have been something to hear the Lord Jesus Christ pray? That must have been something, to hear him pray.

Matter of fact, Luke chapter 11, it tells us that after he had finished praying, you don't need to turn there, that's not my text. Luke chapter 11, it says that when he finished praying, his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to to pray now these were men who had prayed all their lives but it's as though when they heard Jesus praying they said to themselves man if that's prayer I've never prayed must have been something about hearing Jesus pray. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there to hear Jesus make this prayer in John 17,

this prayer of all prayers, the high priestly prayer? I would love to have heard him pray. But I wasn't there, and I can't do it, but what we can do is we can read what Jesus prayed and pray that the Holy Spirit will somehow convey to us the atmosphere that was created when Jesus prayed to his Father. As I said this morning, this is the longest recorded prayer in the Bible. It is the high priestly prayer of Jesus.

It is a prayer of completion because it begins by saying, after Jesus has spoken these words. And it takes us back from John 13, 14, 15, and 16. What we have there is what is normally called the upper room discourse, when Jesus gives his final and most encouraging and instructing lessons to his disciples. And what I think is one of the richest passages in all the Bible that I would love to someday get up enough nerve to try to expound and preach on those chapters, because they're so rich in what the Lord has to say to his disciples.

And after he says these things, then he seals it with prayer. And so it's a prayer of completion, but it's also a circular prayer. And by that, as I said this morning, Jesus will speak about one subject and then he'll move on to something else but he'll come back to that subject but each time it has a wider scope it takes in a broader area so you'll notice as we go through our study of John chapter 17 that will be in a sense, repeating ourselves because that's what Jesus did. But to remember that each time he repeats himself, it's not just bare repetition,

but it is restating something and at the same time reaching out and bringing that into a wider scope. For instance, if you read 1 John, this is the way, this is the characteristic of John, that is a circular letter. He talks about love and he talks about faith and he talks about the Holy Spirit.

He talks about life and light, but he comes back again and again and again to these things. And as you read that letter, the best way, some letters in the Bible you can outline like this, one, two, three, four. But John's letters you need to outline like this. They're circulators. They keep coming back. But each time the circle is wider. Each time the circle is wider and takes in more truth. And as I said this morning, this is a teaching prayer when Jesus is instructing his disciples in a way that he could no other way instruct them,

and so while we cannot listen to Jesus pray, we can in a sense listen to him pray, and that's what I want us to do tonight. If it might be convenient for you to have kind of a structure of this chapter, the first eight verses is Jesus praying for himself. And then in verses 9 through 19, he prays for his disciples, his immediate disciples. In verses 20 and 24, he prays for all of those that would believe on his name through them, the church, that's us. But actually, he says,

I pray not only for these immediate disciples, but I pray also for all those that will believe on me through their name. So whatever he prays for his disciples, he's in effect praying for us also. And in the fourth division is the last two verses, verses 25 and 26, which is kind of a summation,

but I like to think of it as affirmations and promises given to those who follow him. So what I want us to do tonight is to read the first eight verses, and this is Christ's prayer for himself. Let's listen as the Lord prays. After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all people to give eternal life to all whom you have given to him. And this is eternal life that they

may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made known your name. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words that you gave to me, I have given to you, and they have received them, and know in truth that I came from you. Jesus praying for himself, and actually he prays just for one he begins by saying, Father, glorify your Son.

That's all he asks for himself. That's all he asks for himself. Father, glorify your Son. Now, before we rush out in our minds and get the wrong idea about what Jesus is praying for, let me remind you of how we ended this morning, that when Jesus says, Father, glorify your Son, he is simply saying, Father, take me to yourself,

as he puts it in another place here. And he's talking about the cross. He's talking about the cross. He's talking about the cross. Father, you have glorified me while I've been on this earth. You have honored me and exalted me and given me power and authority. And now, Lord, one more time, I want you to glorify your Son,

which meant the cross. He's saying, Father, now take me to the cross. That's the only thing he prays for himself. Now, he's going to pray a number of things for us, but the only thing he asks for himself is, Father, give me the power and the strength to go to the cross. Father, glorify your Son. And as I said, you know, at first glance, that may seem like a selfish prayer. Father, glorify your Son. If you and I were to stand up here this evening and say, Father, glorify me,

we would all say, what a selfish, egotistical prayer that is. But in looking at this prayer, this one petition that Jesus asked of himself, I want us to notice three things. First of all, this prayer is barren of all selfishness. This prayer is barren of all selfishness as I said at first glance this may look like and sound like a selfish prayer

Father glorify thy son but notice how he puts it Father glorify your son why? so that the son may glorify you. The only reason that the Son is asking that the Father glorify him is not for his own sake, but so that he in turn may glorify the Father.

It is not a selfish prayer, you see. He's saying, Father, I want you to do this. I want you to enable me in this, but not for my strength, not for my honor, not for my glory, but so that I may in turn use this to glorify you, for that's all that I care about in this world. That's what I came into this world for, was to glorify you and I say to you that it's all right for us to ask God to do anything for us if our motive is so that we can in turn glorify the Father but if the prayer stops with us then that's a selfish prayer and we have no right to pray it but the motive of all

of our praying is father whatever you whatever you do, if I'm praying for healing, if I'm praying for deliverance from this, or if I'm praying financial health, or whatever I'm praying for, if that's the end of it, that's all I want, then that is a selfish prayer. But my prayers ought to always say, so that, Father, I want you to do this for me, so that in turn I will be able to glorify you. Because that's all the Godhead is interested in. You know, you can't get them interested in anything else. That's all they're interested in.

Jesus came to glorify the Father. The Father glorifies the Son. The Holy Spirit came to glorify Jesus. They've got a one-track mind up yonder in heaven. Godhead has a one-track mind up yonder in heaven. God has a one-track mind, and it says glorifying God. And you can't talk them into any other motive. God's not interested in how many you have in Sunday school unless somehow that can bring glory to God.

God is not interested in how much money you raise unless somehow that can bring glory to God. You see, that's the only thing God's interested in. That's the bottom line. And I have a right to ask for anything as long as my motive is so that the Father may be glorified in me. And I have to question myself

and I need to examine my motives. Why am I praying for what I'm praying for? What is my ultimate motive? Now, I know what my immediate motive is. If I'm sick and I'm praying for healing, my immediate motive is so that I won't die, so that I'll be healthy. But there is always an ultimate motive. What is that?

So that the Father somehow can be glorified in this situation. And God can be glorified in the answer then he will answer but if he cannot be glorified in the answer he will not answer because the only thing he's interested in is that glory this is why Jesus said in John 14 he says whatsoever you shall ask in my name that that will I do, that the Father, that the Father, why? So that the Father may be glorified in the Son. This is not a selfish prayer. He's praying so that whatever happens to him, he can bring glory to the Father.

You see, Jesus had a lot to say about this glory business. For instance, I want you to look at chapter 5 and verse 41. Chapter 5 and verse 41, Jesus said, I do not accept glory from human beings. Boy, that's a showstopper right there. I do not accept glory from human beings. He said, I have someone else in mind. He said, men may praise me, that means nothing to me. I do not accept that. I do not accept that. What I accept is that the Father glorifies me, that the Father praises me. You know, when you

get right down to it, folks, that's all that really matters. I was almost, not quite, but I was almost embarrassed at how Michael introduced me. Kay was snickering. I'm sorry. But I do appreciate what you had to say. Of course, you don't know if it's true or not. I appreciate what you had to say. But I want to tell you something. That doesn't mean anything

if I don't have that praise from God. That doesn't mean anything. You know, there are ways in which you and I in this world can generate praise from men and can receive glory from others. That's not what counts. Jesus said, I do not accept praise. I do not accept glory from men.

He said, what I'm after is the Father's praise, the Father's glory, the Father's amen. But he goes on and he has something interesting to say in verse 44, talking to these Pharisees. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? He said, I don't understand you people.

How can you say that you believe when it's just a mutual admiration of society? And you're trying to receive glory from one another, and you're not concerned about what God has to say about you. You're just concerned about what others have to say about you. And then in John chapter 8, John chapter 7 and verse 18, those who speak on their own seek their own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him. Now let's look at that for just a moment. These are very significant words.

Those who speak on their own, in other words, not from revelation, not from the Word of God, seek their own glory. Seek their own glory. Kay, on the plane yesterday, you were reading to me about the Moonies. And what's that guy's name? Sue Moon, on too long or something like that. Or here too long or something like that.

But sun, moon, and stars, whatever. No, that's a perfume, but whatever it is. Their theology is that Jesus, when he came to this earth, failed to redeem and failed to restore humanity. And so God sent a second Messiah, and sun, moon, whatever it is, he is that Messiah. And I want to tell you two things about him. He's seeking his own glory,

and he's a liar. Well, you know what Jesus says? Those who speak on their own, without revelation, those who speak on their own, seek their own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true and there is nothing false in him the implication is that those who seek their own glory there's falsehood in them it's falsehood and

what we have today a lot of times our guru preachers who are trying to keep their crowd and trying to gather their following. And sometimes in order to do that, they have to come up with new stuff that you've never heard of, neither has God. And like one preacher will say, you know, and they're just standing all, oh, it needs something.

It needs something because he receives direct revelation from God even while he's preaching. God reveals, say, oh, yes, God just revealed to me that women were intentioned originally to give birth through their sides. I'm quoting now. And then another revelation, oh, yes,

God just spoke to me. There are nine members of the Trinity, not three. And people are amazed. Oh, isn't he deep? Oh, he's muddy. Man like that who speaks on his own seeks his own glory, of course, and he gets it.

But there's falsehood in him. He's not true. Ah, he says you need to be careful when you get to this glory business. And in John chapter 8, again, in verse 50, he says, yet I do not seek my own glory. In verse 54, Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.

It is my Father who glorifies me. And so this is a prayer that is barren of all selfishness it says father glorify me and if you put the period there may come away and say Jesus was thinking only of himself but he says so that the Son may glorify the Father. But not only is it a prayer that is barren of selfishness, it is a prayer that is based on success. Notice he says in verse 4,

I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. Verse 6, I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words that you gave to me I have given to them. That was his mission. And they have received them and know in truth that I came from you and they have believed that you sent me.

In other words, Jesus is saying, now, Father, I come and pray. And one of the basis of my prayers is the fact that I have finished the work that you've given me to do. This prayer is based on success. He has finished. He's done what God gave him to do this prayer is based on success he has finished he's done what God gave him to do well what was it that God gave him to do a couple of things two or three things here let's just look at them first of all he said he we saw this

morning he said you gave him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. One of the things, the main thing that the Father gave him to do was that he might give eternal life to those that believed on him. And notice again and again how the word give and given is used here. All of it is a gift of grace. To give them eternal life, not to award them eternal life, not to reward them in such a way that they have eternal life, but as an act of grace to give them eternal life.

It's all a gift. Let's suppose that when the meeting is over, you're driving out of town and you come to a sign on the side of the road and it says Dallas that way and you see me sitting on top of that sign and you pull over the side of the road and you come over and you say brother done is that you oh yes yes yes hmm is there some problem? No, no, fine. What are you doing?

I'm going home. What do you mean you're going home? Well, this sign says Dallas that way, and so I'm going back to Dallas. Brother Dunn, excuse me, but that sign won't take you to Dallas. It merely points the way. And there are a lot of people that are sitting on the sign

of church membership saying, I'm going to heaven. Folks, the church won't take you to heaven. It simply points the way. All of this is a gift from God. He has given to us eternal life. 1 John says it again, and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life. And this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son does not have life, you see. But he who has the Son has life. God has given to us eternal life, but he gave it to us in his Son. So if I'm going to have eternal life, it must come through and only through the Lord Jesus Christ. But here's something I want you to notice. He says in that second verse,

since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all flesh. Whoops, that's not what he says, is it? Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. Hmm. Isn't that interesting? He says, I glorified you in verse 4 on earth

by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So he says in verse 6, I have made your name known to those whom you gave me to do. So he says in verse 6, I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me. Look down in verse 9. I'm not asking on their behalf. I'm asking on their behalf.

I'm not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me because they are yours and all mine are yours and yours are mine do you notice the difference there you see what I'm getting at God gave him authority over all flesh to give eternal life, not to all flesh, but to those whom the Father had given him. Now we must examine this. What does he say?

What does he say? Here is an interesting statement. In verse 6, he says, I have made your name known. To who? To those whom you gave me from out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me.

Well, wait just a minute. Wait, wait, wait. Hey, hey, hey. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Jesus says these that I have given eternal life to, they were yours before they were mine. Well, I thought that my first encounter with God came when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

Well, obviously not, because before that, I belonged to God. That's what it says. I mean, you know. He says, they were yours, and you gave them to me. Now, my question is, how did God get them? and you gave them to me. Now my question is, how did God get them? I mean, this is before Christ ever came along. How did God get them?

Anybody have an answer? He chose them. From out of the world. You say, preacher, that sounds a lot like election to me. I know it does, doesn't it? It really does. And I know that bothers some people, but let me ask you a question. If I'm expounding this passage of Scripture

and it starts talking like this, what am I to do, ignore it and move on? It bothers some people, but let me ask you a question. If I'm expounding this passage of Scripture and it starts talking like this, what am I to do, ignore it and move on? I have to deal with it, don't I? I have to deal with it. And the fact of the matter is, he says, I have given eternal life to those whom you gave to me. And he said, they were yours first,

and you gave them to me. And he said, they were yours first. And you gave them to me. Now, folks, whether we like to think about it or not, talk about it or not, and the only reason we don't is because we don't understand it, is that you were chosen from the foundation of the world. You were chosen from the foundation of the world you were chosen the foundation of the world now some people used to say well God chose us because he knew we had believed

no he didn't do that that would mean salvation by works that would mean that God's reason God chose us is because he knew we were going to do something. Like believe. No. I mean, even the power to believe is given to us from God. He's chosen us. Ephesians says he chose us according to his good pleasure.

You say, why did the Lord choose me? Because it pleased him. You say, preacher, are you a Calvinist? No, I don't like, I'm not a Calvinist. I like to believe I'm a Bible-believing Christian who's not afraid, you know, of certain tight scriptures. I don't like to be labeled by any man. Calvin was a man.

I'm just saying that throughout the scripture, you keep coming up with these disturbing statements that takes away all the glory from us and all the credit from us and keeps putting it on God where he says that God chose us for the foundation of the world just because it pleased him.

I mean, God took you and said, I like you. Drew a circle around you. It's what the I like you. Drew a circle around you. It's what the word indicates. He drew a circle around you. Said, you're mine. You're mine. And then thousands of years later when Jesus came,

he said, here Jesus, my son, I've got something for you. And he gave you to Jesus. That's the way it works. that's the way it works so it works oh then you it means everybody can't be saved then no it didn't say that Jesus said whosoever will may come you see let me say to you tonight this is one of those things Spurgeon said, and I like this, that election and predestination is a family secret. I mean, you talk about it with the family.

You don't go witnessing to a lost man talking to him about election. I mean, I can't understand him, much less a lost man. No, you preach the gospel to him. Tell him whosoever will may come. And you say, well, I don't know if I'm elected or not. Forget about it. Forget about it.

If you have the slightest desire to come to Christ, the slightest desire to know Jesus, come ahead, friends, and he'll save you. But after you've got saved, you'll turn around and realize, oops, I thought I chose him, but I realize he chose me. That's interesting, isn't it? He says, I've given eternal life to all those whom you have given me.

They were yours. They were yours. They were yours. You see, my first doings with God weren't when I came to Jesus Christ. My first doings with God is when God, before the foundation of the world, drew a circle around me and said, You are mine. He chose me.

Isn't that something? There's where our security comes in. It's all of grace, friends. It's all of grace. And the reason that sometimes we oppose this kind of teaching is because we're afraid, well, it'll take away man's responsibility. I don't understand how these two work you have two things taught in the New Testament

you have in the Bible you have election and evangelism both of those things taught they're both they're equally taught you say well I can't reconcile those two you don't need to just do them I can't reconcile how this works you don't need to understand it, friend. Van Savner said if I could understand it all, there wouldn't be much to it. And I made an agreement with God a few years ago that I'd let him know some things that I didn't know. Well, time is gone.

Let me just mention one last thing about this prayer. Oh, by the way, I need to say one more thing about this. Eternal life. He says, eternal life, and this is in verse 3, and this is eternal life, that they may know you. And as I indicated this morning, that word know doesn't have anything to do with intellectual awareness, but it has to do with a personal relationship.

Like I meet you, I get acquainted with you, I get to know you. But it's in a tense that means I am knowing you. In other words, it's not a period, it's a process. Those who have eternal life are not static lives. I am knowing you. In other words, it's not a period, it's a process. Those who have eternal life are not static lives. They are dynamic lives. We start off, we come to knowing, but it doesn't end there.

Throughout all of our lives, there's a process of knowing him, knowing him, and knowing him, you see. And there are some people that I'm afraid for who, well, they were saved 40 years ago and they haven't moved an inch since then. Don't know any more about God or the Bible or the church than they knew 40 years ago. I would hate, I'd hate to tie my redemption onto theirs.

Because eternal life is not just to know him, but it's to knowing him, to be knowing him and knowing him. And we're going to see this later on, that there will be an increase in our knowledge of God. All right, last word, and we'll just say a word about it. This prayer is burdened with sacrifice. This prayer is burdened with sacrifice. As I said at the beginning and as I said this morning,

and we're coming to it again, but it's going to have a wider scope here, when Jesus is saying, Father, glorify thy Son, basically what he's saying is, Father, crucify me. And that it needs to have an effect on our thinking about what it means to be glorified. For Jesus, it meant a number of things, of course. While he was on earth, he was glorified in the fact that he was able to work miracles

and the fact that he was able to reveal the Father and a number of other things. But here, this glorification means his crucifixion. And the greatest moment of glory for Jesus was when he died on the cross. So the death of Jesus was not a defeat. It was a shout of victory. Now, here's what I want to point out. He says it somewhere. I can't find it. Anyway, you read it yourself.

You need to do a little work yourself. Ah, here it is, verse 22. I knew it was there. The glory that you have given me, I have given them. Now, what does that mean the glory that you have given me I passed on to them well

that's something for you to work on what does that mean what are the implications of that what does that mean? What are the implications of that? For Jesus' glory was not just a glorious experience. It was an experience of sacrifice, self-denial, and humiliation are finally dead. And he says, the glory that you've been given,

I've given to them. What does that mean for us? Ron Dunn's podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. For more Ron Dunn materials, sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from his study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.