Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus has finished compelling and exhorting and warning his disciples, now he's going to pray.

We're entering into what is known as the high priestly prayer.

And his prayer in this chapter exceeds the scope of what John probably anticipated.

Jesus doesn't just pray for the disciples and believers we see in the book of Acts, he prays for all believers everywhere- he prays for me, and he prays for you, and he prays for those in Brazil to whom Phil is ministering and preaching.

He prayed for all of us.

And what he's going to emphasize in his prayer is the idea that we get to take no credit for our salvation.

And over and over he will use the language in praying about us to the Father, "you gave," and "you have given."

And this idea is what Michael Horton articulates in his book, Putting Amazing Back into Grace, when he says:

One of the church's greatest problems today is that it has come to the place where it takes God's grace for granted.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it 'cheap grace' and said, 'Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.'

...If in fact grace is something we CAN'T bestow on ourselves- if only God can grant grace- his is the most valuable grace [sic] on the market!

That's what Paul meant when he wrote that when a person DOES something in order to get something in return, he will demand the payment.

In this kind of situation, the payment he or she receives is not a gift, but a paycheck.

Grace expected or demanded is a contradiction of terms.

And this section in John ties in nicely with the Pauline theology we see in ePh 2:1-10 Ephesians 2:1-10

Have congregation open to Jon 17 John 17

Advise no Q&A today; ask questions at pot luck.

And as a result, we are called slaves of Christ because of our indebtedness to him and our inability to earn the grace he has given to us.

This is why Paul uses the title "slave of Christ" so frequently in his letters.

And as a result of our being given to Jesus by God the Father, Jesus will then pray for and expect our unity as a Church in the world.

And because Jesus is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, we are to imitate him, especially as we see him in verse one of this chapter.

Jesus knows that he is going to die very imminently now, and that he will return to the glory he had with the Father before the incarnation, but to get there, he has to go through the trial, the flogging, the Cross, and the Tomb.

Notice, with the weight of all of that bearing down on him, what Jesus does...

When times get tough, what does Jesus do?

He prays!

When he knows that the hour has come for him to die, rather than despairing, Jesus prays!

One commentator puts it like this:

That God’s appointed hour has arrived does not strike Jesus as an excuse for resigned fatalism, but for prayer: precisely because the hour has come for the Son to be glorified, he prays that the glorification might take place.

This should be our response to suffering, to hardship, and to trial.

Why fight alone?

Go to the place where you can do real battle: your knees!

Just a quick note: if you are a follower of Christ, he prayed for you here!

That should be encouraging.

Jesus prays here and he prays about his identity a little bit- that the Father has given him the divine name, which we see in John's "I AM" statements.

And that he has sustained the disciples from falling away, except for Judas who was the "son of destruction" that's glossed over in pS 109:8.

And he prays that we would have joy becuase of his return to glory, and indicates our change in citizenship if we follow him.

But what I really want to focus on is verse 11: "Now, I am departing from the world;"

Jesus seems to be anticipating the state of affairs after His ascension, when the disciples are carrying on His earthly ministry.

The term “world” could refer to those who oppose Jesus (see note on 16:20; compare note on 16:33).

If this is the case, Jesus means that He will no longer dialogue with those who oppose Him.

From this point forward, Jesus’ answers to His oppressors are minimal and straightforward; He speaks plainly (e.g., 16:25).

He will go to His death in the same way as the Suffering Servant—silently (Isa 53:7).

And this is how Jesus will suffer and die- without defending himself, without raising his voice, without protesting.

Becasue it was the will of the Father to save you and me by spilling his blood and returning Jesus to glory.

This is the part of the prayer that I want to focus on:

1. Prayer against isolation.

2. Prayer against syncretism

We must be grounded in Truth so that we can minister to a world that can't see truth.

We must be sanctified in the word of God (truth) so that Jesus' desire of sending us into the world is fulfilled.

We need to be exegetes.

We must exegete our Bibles and exegete our culture- to be able to explain it.

If we know our Bible well, but not our culture, the message will be lost in translation.

If we know our culture well, but not our Bible, then truth becomes corrupted.

In practical terms, no-one can be ‘sanctified’ or set apart for the Lord’s use without learning to think God’s thoughts after him, without learning to live in conformity with the ‘word’ he has graciously given.

And in doing this, knowing the truth, we are to be unified.

Restoration movement: union and truth.

Balancing act.

Difference between state and country borders.

This is the basic belief of Christians with two caveats, "descended into Hell" in this early creed originally meant simply that he went to the abode of the dead, similar to the concept found in the Old Testament: that of sheol.

That Jesus went to hell is not a protestant, nor a scriptural idea.

Additionally, we need to understand that at the time this creed was written, catholic meant "universal."

There wasn't a "Roman Catholic" church.

With those caveats in mind, anyone who can confess this creed in belief is not a country border, but a state border:

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And that's the desire- that being sustained in Christ, being one in Christ, being unified in Christ- that those who hold fast would see the glory of Jesus that he gave up temporarily and that has been his possession since before the world was created.

And this desire is bourne out of his love for us- becuase to see him in glory is to know joy.

And because he loves us so greatly, we ought to love one another and love the truth found in him.

That means no hatred, or malice, or slander, or envy, or division, or gossip.

Real love that puts others above yourself.

And now, we have will have a chance to do that as we respond-

you can give to Phil's ministry to put those who God would call him to reach in Brazil above yourself, and you can repent of your sins to put the holiness of God to which you are called above yourself.

Of course, if you need prayer for anything, or want to talk about anything that is keeping you from living in the love of Jesus, we're here to pray with you at this time as we sing in response to Jesus' great love for us.