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KEY VERSE:
John 17:1-26 (ESV)
Before Jesus was crucified, He prayed for His disciples. This prayer is the same prayer that Christ offers up for ALL Christians.
I. THAT WE WOULD KNOW GOD.
John 17:3 (ESV)
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
A. In order to know God we must know Jesus Christ. Christ reveals the Father to us because Christ IS GOD!
John 14:9
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
B. When we accept Christ, we KNOW Him and we KNOW God!
John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
C. To “Hear” someone, you must first KNOW them.
John 8:47
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
D. Jesus prayed that we would know God and thus have eternal life. Knowing God through Christ is the Key to Eternal Life.
II. THAT WE WOULD GLORIFY HIM.
John 17:9-10 9
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
A. Christians glorify Christ by putting Him first in their lives.
Luke 9:23
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
B. It is easy to follow Jesus when all is going good. Only through the hard times do Christians demonstrate their true devotion and faith to Christ.
Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
III. THAT WE WOULD BE SANCTIFIED.
John 17:14-17 (ESV)
14 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.
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
A. The World has NO claim on Christians, therefore Christians should claim NOTHING of the World!
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
B. Jesus prayed that we may stay in the world so that we may serve Him!
Matthew 20:26-28
26 …But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
IV. THAT WE WOULD BE UNITED.
John 17:21-23
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
A. God desires that the whole Church Body is united as One. All serving Him and one another.
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
Colossians 3:14
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Conclusion:
Christ thinks it important enough to ask the Father these four requests for us. We should consider them and strive to grasp them.