Sanctify Them in the Truth
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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John 17:6-19
His people -> He Keeps -> He has revealed Himself to them -> He sanctifies them through His Word
Hebrews 12:14- Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
(vv.6-10) Jesus intercedes in prayer for His people
They are His
This is the ground of His prayer for them
He knows what they need and prays for them
Not the world
They are not His
Our Prayer: Lord, thank You that You intercede for us
We are helpless and in need of help in every way
You have reconciled us to God by Your sacrifice
You always live to intercede for us
You know what we need even when we don’t
(vv.11-13,15) He will keep those who are His own
Keep them in your name
Keep them in the truth of who you are
He is praying that they don’t wander away from what He has told them about Himself
He has not lost any of His own
All whom He has called to Himself remain His
He will always keep His own
Ephesians 1:13-14- In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:28-30- And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Except for the son of destruction
He was chosen for this purpose
John 6:63-65- It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Mentioned so that you might know He won’t let you go
It is a statement of unique exception
Do not take them out of the world
He is not asking to remove them from the pressures of the world
We don’t get taken to heaven as soon as we come to faith
Keep them from the evil one
Keep them through the attacks and wiles of the Devil
Ephesians 6:10-13- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Our Prayer Lord, keep us
We want to be with you more than anything
We confess that we are sinful and weak
We will not make it if you don’t sustain our faith
You promise to keep all who are yours
Keep us from sin
Keep us from unbelief
Keep us from Satan
Strengthen us and sustain us by Your Spirit
(vv.8,14) He has given His people His Word
His Word is true
There is no falsehood in it
No distortion or imbalance
His word is most immediately all that He has said to them
His word is most fully His entire revealed Word
Psalm 119:160- The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Our view of Scripture matters
We must hold an exceedingly high view of God’s Word
It is inerrant
It is infallible
It is completely sufficient
It is powerful, alive and active
If we let a high view of Scripture slip, so will our correct view of God and His world
Our time in the Bible is vital
Strong Christians aren’t made from ordinary American lives
They are made by extraordinary lives of love for and study of the Bible
If you aren’t a committed student of the Bible, you will be a weak Christian
Our Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your Word
Your Word is truth in every way
It gives light to our way
By it we know you and we know ourselves
Forgive us for neglecting it
Teach us, mold us, and guide us by your Word
(vv.16-19) Sanctification happens through Truth
Holy Father
God is holy
Be holy, for I am holy
(v.19) “I sanctify myself, that they may be sanctified in truth”
He sets Himself apart so that they may be set apart to God
He will make us holy
The prayer is for God to do the sanctifying in us
He works it in us, we act it from us
This is how He keeps us
Have a high view of what the Christian life ought to look like
He is the One who is able
Our Prayer: Lord, sanctify us in the Truth
We want to be holy as You are holy
You have set us apart in Christ
Make us more like Christ
Help us to live in accord with your design and desire for us
Be glorified in us as we know you and make you known
Manuscript
Before we get to our text, I need to explain where we are going and how we are going to get there because this week will be laid out a little differently than most other sermons. I want to follow the main logic of Jesus in this portion of His High-Priestly Prayer. He moves from His people as the subject of His prayer, then prays that He keep them in His name, then He moves to focus on His revealed Word, and finally finishes this part of the prayer by praying that they be sanctified. So, what I would like to do is stop at each of these points along the journey through this passage and finish each point by turning His prayer into our prayer.
Jesus intercedes in prayer for His people
We introduced the prayer two weeks ago, where He was praying primarily for Himself, and now He shifts to praying for His Disciples. There is so much that we could take time to consider here, but we simply do not have the time. At the heart of what He says is that they are His. This might sound obvious, but it is actually profound. They have been given to Him by the Father, and they belong to Him as they belong to the Father. There is nothing better than to belong to the God of glory. This is the ground of His prayer for them. He knows what they need and He prays for them. But this is not so for the world. They are not His. They do not know Him, they do not belong to Him and they are rebels against God.
Our Prayer: Lord, thank You that You intercede for us. We are not left to ourselves to fend for ourselves, or else we would be undone. We are helpless and in need of help in every way. We admit that apart from You we can do nothing. You thank You, that You have reconciled us to God by Your sacrifice, and now You always live to intercede for us. What a glorious gift! And Lord, You know what we need even when we don’t and by Your Spirit You pray for us when we don’t know what to pray. You are so kind and good to us and we together praise You because You are worthy of all of our praise forever. Amen.
He will keep those who are His own
As Jesus continues, He prays “Keep them in your name.” This might sound confusing, but His request is simple. His name is representative of all that He is, which means He is asking that the Father will keep them in the truth of who He is. He is praying that they don’t wander away from what He has told them about Himself. They believe that He has been sent by God, but there are many threats to their faith in Him.
He says that He has not lost any of His own, which is remarkable. He isn’t just praying as someone who hopes for the best. He ensures all that He asks. All whom He has called to Himself remain His because He Himself guards and keeps them. He will always keep His own people. There are no dropout Christians along the path of genuine faith. We read this very thing in places like Ephesians 1:13-14- In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Or Romans 8:28-30- And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. It is as good as done.
In verse 12, He makes a statement about one exception. He says, “except for the son of destruction.” This is not to leave the door open to us to begin to think, as some say, that He keeps us unless we ourselves jump. In fact, if this were so, then none of us would get home to glory because perhaps the biggest threat to our faith are our own sinfully fickle hearts. No, He is making a clarification so that we won’t begin to open the door of doubt about His sustaining work. Jesus is saying that Judas was chosen for this purpose. This idea has been mentioned numerous times already in John’s Gospel account. We see it most clearly in John 6:63-65- It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” It is not that Judas wasn’t able to be kept because he decided in his free will to jump. Rather, Jesus makes it clear that from the beginning it was determined that He would never be given life through the Spirit. I think that this is mentioned so that you might know He won’t let you go. Brother, hear me, and sister, take heart: He keeps all who come to Him.
He then gives practical statements about how this will happen. He says how He doesn’t do it by saying, “I do not ask that You take them out of the world.” He is not asking for the Father to remove them from the pressures of the world. We don’t get taken to heaven as soon as we come to faith. We continue living in this sin-sick world, but now as those belonging to God rather than the world.
He also prays “Keep them from the evil one.” This can be read two ways: one legitimate and one not. The first way is to interpret Jesus’ words as saying that He will keep believers away from the work and schemes of Satan. The second way is to interpret Jesus as asking that God keep His people through the scheming of Satan. The second interpretation is clearly correct. God will keep His us through the attacks and wiles of the Devil. Why else would Paul have written Ephesians 6:10-13 where He says- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Our Prayer: Lord, keep us. We want to be with you more than anything, but there is so much opposition against our faith between then and now. We confess that we are sinful and weak and that we will not make it if You don’t sustain our faith. You promise to keep all who are yours, Lord, so keep us from sin, keep us from unbelief, and keep us from Satan. Strengthen us and sustain us by Your Spirit, for we know You are able, and You delight in bringing Your children home to You.