Prayer for the Light-bearers
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Jesus prays for the only hope of humanity-- those who will take the Light of His Gospel into a fallen world.
Text: John 17:9-10
Date: 01/26/2020, the Traditional service.
Series: "John: Encountering Love" Part 163
Description:
One of our culture's greatest deceptions is that the world we live in-- the world of fallen humanity, is a "wonderful world". John has clearly established in his Gospel that it is not. Rather, it is a world of wickedness and evil, in open rebellion against God, and therefore under His judgment and subject to His unquantifiable wrath. As bleak of a picture as that might present, it is the background upon which the glorious solution Christ is offering to that world must be painted. In this segment of His "High Priestly Prayer", Jesus presents a paradox of sorts: He will not pray for this evil world, but rather for the only ones who can save it-- those His Father has given Him out of the world. In doing so, He reveals the solution to the problem of sin and the battle plan of the Kingdom. His prayer is for those He has sovereignly chosen to rescue from the darkness, and then send right back into that darkness as its only hope. It is a prayer for those in whom He will be glorified; a prayer for the true heroes of humanity-- a prayer for the Light-bearers.
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I. Introduction
A. "It's a wonderful world".
B. It is a wicked world.
C. It is a world of spiritual evil.
D. It is world under judgment and wrath.
II. Exposition of the text, John 17:9-10.
A. Context
B. Jesus' exclusive prayer for His own.
1. A prayer for the elect, vs. 9.
a. The priestly nature of the "High Priestly" prayer.
b. Jesus specifically DOES NOT pray for the world, Matt. 5:44, Luke 23:34.
i. God is both zealous and jealous.
• God loves the world, John 3:16, Matt. 5:45.
• Love and wrath are not mutually exclusive, Ex. 20:4-5, Rom. 1:18.
ii. The intensity of God's wrath, Heb. 10:26-31, 12:29.
c. Jesus prays for the Light-bearers.
i. The doctrine of election, John 17:2,6.
• An exalted view of God.
• The sovereignty of God's election, John 6:37,39,44, Eph. 1:4.
• A Scripture-only approach, Rom. 9:20-24.
ii. Who is Jesus praying for? John 17:20-21.
iii. Why is Jesus praying for His disciples?
• Because they are a gift from the Father.
• Because they are the hope of the world, John 17:21,23.
2. Divine ownership and glory, vs. 10.
a. Mutual ownership.
i. "All that is mine is yours", John 5:19, Job 1:21.
ii. "All that is yours is mine".
iii. Focus on the disciples, John 10:30, 17:6-8.
b. Glorified by His church.
i. A perfect tense.
ii. Glorified "in" the church.
• Glorified in love.
• Glorified in immanence, John 14:17,23.
• Glorified in redemption.
• Glorified in the fruit, John 17:8, 15:8.
III. Application
A. Comparing ourselves to the Apostles.
B. The only hope of the world.
1. The utter darkness of "the world".
2. The significance of the Light-bearers.
3. The battle plan of the Kingdom.
IV. Conclusion
