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[0:00] Morning. Good morning. Back in the Gospel of John this morning, John 17. Deep, rich text in John 17.

[0:16] I actually considered, and I told Missy, I was considering actually because we finished up with verse 11 last week. I went through the first few verses a couple weeks ago, got through verse 11 last week, and I was considering going back and recapping one through 11 because I felt I'd done such a poor job with that and after some prayer and about it and everything.

[0:43] We'll just continue on picking up with verse 12 this morning. So given that fact that I did consider that and pray about it and such, I don't know if the Lord just thought I was hopeless and I wasn't going to teach you any better the second time around, or if He just wants me to continue.

[1:03] So I'll just say He wants me to continue. But anyway, John 17 again, very rich text. We could spend the rest of our lives in this high priestly prayer of Jesus Christ and not get it all.

[1:21] There's just no way to do so. Last week when we finished up in verse 11, we saw Jesus, of course, praying to the Father and He says, and now I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world and I come to thee.

[1:40] And we talked about that last week, just a real quick recap about where we ended last week, about how Jesus could rightfully say this because it was as good as done.

[1:52] Because He wasn't backing down. He knew what He was here for. He was here to fulfill the will of the Father. The will of the Father was that Jesus Christ come, that He provide the perfect sacrifice for the redemption of mankind, for the redemption of all those that would repent of their ways and believe the gospel and trust in the plan that God had in place before the foundation of the world was ever laid.

[2:19] So Christ could say, now I come to thee, now I come to the Father, even though He was still here on earth because it was as good as done. But He says, I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world and I come to thee.

[2:33] Then He says, Holy Father, keep through Thy own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. So Jesus petitioning the Father to keep those that were given Him in the Father's name.

[2:52] And we talked about that last week, talked about how that's no different than us going to God in the name of Jesus Christ. We're going saying, I'm associated with, I'm affiliated with, I'm saved by this Jesus Christ.

[3:06] And that's the only way, and that's the only reason that we can go before the Father, that we can even utter a prayer that the Father hears is because of Jesus Christ and because of the power that is in His name.

[3:21] Nothing to do with us. We are very undeserving. But we are saved because of Jesus Christ and we are the fathers because of Jesus Christ. And we have the privilege of prayer like we just done a few minutes ago. We have that privilege because of Jesus Christ.

[3:40] It's not because we deserve it. So Christ here again, making supplication to the Father to keep them in His name. With all that being said, we'll pick up in verse 12.

[3:51] Jesus says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gave us me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the Son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

[4:05] So again, verse 12, while I was with them in the world, again in verse 11, He said, I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And in verse 12, He says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gave us me.

[4:23] And I remember in verse 11, He just asked the Father to keep them in His name, in the Father's name. And He says, while I was in the world, I kept them in Your name. And so this should bring us a great amount of comfort 2,000 years later, that if the disciples, the original, well, 11 at this point, but these 11 were kept in the name of the Father, and they were kept perfectly secure, they were kept perfectly safe.

[4:53] In the name of the Father, and Christ has petitioned the Father to keep them in that same name. He says, while I was here, I kept them in Your name. I know that it works. I know that this is the way to do it.

[5:07] I know that it is through the name of God, and we would know it through the name of Christ, through that power. But Christ here is saying, while I was here, I kept them through this name.

[5:20] So I know that it works. So you continue to keep them in that name, because anything outside of the name of God, anything outside of the name of Christ is not going to keep us securely. It's not going to keep us perfectly, but in the name of Jesus Christ, and in the name of the Father, as Christ here is praying to His disciples, that's the way that we need to be kept.

[5:42] And that's the only way that we need to be kept. We're not kept by works. We're not kept by deeds. We're not kept by denomination. We're not kept by what version of the Bible that we use. We're not kept by creeds. We're not kept by any of these things.

[5:53] We are kept by the name of Jesus Christ, period. And that's how I want to be kept. We're kept by the name of Jesus Christ. We're sealed by the Holy Spirit. Praise God.

[6:05] We're kept by the name of Jesus Christ. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gave us to be, I have kept. And none of them is lost but the Son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

[6:19] Now there's a lot of controversy in this. None of them is lost but the Son of perdition. A whole lot of controversy surrounding this particular part of this verse.

[6:34] Because, and I'll tell you why there's so much controversy to it. And I'll be honest with you all before we even get into this. And you all think I'm weird, you all think I'm kooky or wacky. I find, personally, I find Judas Iscariot to be one of the most intriguing accounts in all of Scripture.

[6:55] Because there's so much surrounding, the accounts that are given of him in the Scripture. You've got the perfect sovereignty of God, yet you have the free will of man all at the same time.

[7:08] You've got the perfect keeping of God just as we just talked about here. The disciples being kept in with the name of God. Jesus Christ praying for that himself, bless you. And we've got all these things that surround Judas Iscariot and his accounts.

[7:28] But what we need to remember though, and especially in this, he says, I've kept them in thy name, those that thou gave us me, I have kept. And none of them is lost but the Son of Perdition. This word perdition, it means destruction or loss, depending on the context that it's given in.

[7:48] But Judas Iscariot here is referred to as the Son of Perdition. And Christ says, I have kept all of these that you have given me and none is lost outside of Judas Iscariot.

[8:01] And y'all have heard me say time and time again, I've preached in entire sermons about the Gospel, but using Judas as an example of that.

[8:14] And y'all have heard me say time and time again, Judas was there all three plus years just like the other disciples were. He saw the same miracles, he heard the same teachings, he heard the same preaching, he heard Christ praying the same prayers.

[8:29] He heard everything that they heard, but he chose, Judas chose to not follow. Judas let his love of money get in the way of following Christ fully.

[8:46] Although he heard everything that the rest of him did. Folks that just tells me that proximity to the church and proximity to a preacher or a pastor, proximity to Jesus himself does not save.

[9:00] It does not save. If you do not believe the Gospel and you do not truly repent of your sin, you are not saved. I don't care how many years you've spent in a church. I don't care how many of the songs in the hymnal that you've memorized.

[9:16] I don't care how much scripture you can quote. The closeness that you have to the church or even in Judas' case to Christ himself, the man slept out underneath the stars with Jesus Christ.

[9:28] He shared in meals. In fact, at the beginning of the farewell discourse here that began a couple of chapters ago, Judas was sharing a meal with Jesus Christ. He was that close.

[9:40] Amen. But yeah, Jesus calls him to send a perdition. That's why I find Judas so intriguing. The folks it rings out as a warning. It rings out as a warning to many, many people that have sat in church house pews for decades but have never truly received salvation.

[10:01] And yet they think that they're all right. They think that they're all right and they're not. I'm sorry, those that thou gave us me I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition.

[10:15] That the scripture might be fulfilled. This is another part that gets really hairy in this controversy that I was talking about. That the scripture might be fulfilled. So in other words, people will say God chose Judas Iscariot to destruction.

[10:30] God appointed him to destruction. No, Judas chose his own path. Judas chose to reject Jesus Christ. Judas is the one that chose to walk out into the dark as we read a couple of chapters ago to leave the communion that the disciples were having with Jesus Christ and to go and betray him for a few pieces of silver.

[10:52] Judas chose to do those things. God did not look through the portals of time before the foundations of the world were ever laid and just randomly pick out someone on the earth and say this is the one that will be called the son of perdition.

[11:09] But God is omniscient. God is all knowing. God knew who that would be in all into the future just like God knows right now who is going to accept him and who is going to reject him.

[11:22] God knows all of these things and he knew it about Judas. That's why there's things in the Old Testament that were brought out about this betrayer.

[11:33] In fact, Jesus Christ brought up a couple of them as they were sitting around communing and Jesus Christ, he quoted from the Psalms. He says, him that's dipping his sock with me the same shall betray me the same will lift up his heel against me.

[11:49] And that was quoted from the Psalms that were written a thousand years before Jesus Christ was ever born into this world that God knew. God knew it would be Judas.

[12:00] Christ knew that it would be Judas. And that's another thing I find so intriguing about it. How would you feel? Now, I realize that I'm comparing us, all of us, to Jesus Christ here and that's not much of a comparison for any of us.

[12:16] I mean, he is the pinnacle. Is he not? So for me to compare us with Christ, you know, we're way down here. But how would you feel if someone walked into your life and you knew before they ever pecked on your door or before they ever called your phone or whatever the case was that they were going to betray you.

[12:40] They were going to betray you to be crucified or to be killed, maybe not even crucified. How would you feel about that? Oh, Christ chose Judas as scary.

[12:52] He was part of the original 12. He chose him. He handpicked him and he handpicked him not just at random.

[13:05] He handpicked him and Judas, just like the other 11 disciples, went out and preached. He went out and performed miracles. Was he not part of the 70 that was sent out in the Gospels?

[13:19] Judas was chosen to do these things and yet Christ calls him the son of perdition here. It's another just intriguing thing about it.

[13:35] For me personally, maybe y'all don't find Judas as intriguing as I do. But there's a whole lot that surrounds Judas and his accounts in the Gospels. I've literally lost sleep wondering about some of the things that I do about Judas as scary.

[13:51] Like I said, the sovereignty of God and the free will of man and all these other things. Nevertheless, these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled as the words of Jesus Christ.

[14:06] The Scripture had to be fulfilled. Folks, if there was ever a prophecy given in the Bible, and some of them haven't been fulfilled yet, but they will be, I promise you they will be, but if there is ever one, even a tiny prophecy in the Bible that is not fulfilled, then this Bible is completely untrue.

[14:29] But every prophecy that has been given, if it has not been fulfilled, it will be. Because this is the inherent infallible word of God and God is not a man that He could lie nor that He should lie.

[14:43] God cannot lie. It's not that He will not lie. Praise God. It's that He cannot lie. It's an impossibility for Him to do so. So this was done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, that those Scriptures that talk about a betrayer of Messiah in the Old Testament, that those could be fulfilled.

[15:08] But like I said, Judas chose his own way. Judas chose his own destruction. Everyone on the planet right now that rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they have chosen to reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[15:22] There is no indifference when the Gospel is presented. You either accept it or you reject it. Period. There is no in between.

[15:33] First 13, and now come out to thee, and these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

[15:46] So Christ says, and now I come to thee, and keep in mind He's still speaking to the Father here. He's still praying. And these things I speak in the world that they, the disciples, the remaining eleven, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

[16:02] And remember last week I talked about how Jesus, in this particular section of this prayer, He is referring specifically to those eleven.

[16:14] But when we get down to verse 20, which we will not reach today, nor did we reach it last week, we learn that by extension this also applies to you and I, those that are saved right now, 2,000 years later, that Christ is praying for us as well because He says, He says I'm praying for them and I'm praying for those that will believe because of the word that these eleven will speak.

[16:37] That's us, folks. That's us. The eleven went out and they preached the gospel and folks got saved. Then other people went out and preached the gospel and other folks got saved.

[16:49] We know the day of Pentecost, there was thousands of people got saved the day of Pentecost. Some of them went out and preached the gospel and other folks got saved. So it has continued on and on and on and praised God.

[17:00] I am tickled to death to report to you that there is nothing that can stop the church of God because God has ordained for that church to survive. It is the bride of Christ.

[17:11] It is the body of Christ and nothing can happen to that bride or to that body. God has ordained that himself. Hallelujah. And these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

[17:28] Remember what started this whole thing. Y'all have heard me talk about this since we started the farewell discourse, I don't know, two, three months ago, whenever it was that we started it. But it all began with Christ reminding His disciples, I've got to get out of here.

[17:44] I'm leaving. I'm going back to the Father which brought sadness and brought confusion, brought depression on the disciples. And now Jesus has been trying to encourage His disciples here.

[17:58] We know at the very end, the very last verse of John 16, He says, In the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world and Christ is still trying to encourage His disciples here but He's praying to the Father.

[18:15] He's praying to the Father about these things but He says that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. He's saying these things that they can have the joy of Christ and their joy can be fulfilled and it can be fulfilled in them.

[18:29] And now I'm going to leave you one of my favorite verses in the New Testament, James chapter one of verse two where it says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. And it goes on to say, Knowing this at the triumph of your faith, work with patience but let patience have her perfect work.

[18:44] The chi may be perfect in entire, wanting nothing. Folks, we can have joy and tribulation because we belong to Christ. Our joy doesn't depend on circumstances and it doesn't depend upon situations.

[18:56] Our joy is just like our salvation. It is anchored and it rests in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. We can have joy even when the power goes out for a few days.

[19:08] We can have joy when we don't have water for a few days. We can have joy when the wind's done toward the siding off of your house. We can have joy when a tree falls on your car.

[19:20] We can have joy when these things happen. Why? Because one of these days we are promised to go to a land where we want to deal with any of those things. We have the joy of Christ.

[19:31] And again, that is not depending on our circumstances. It is depending on Christ himself. That's where my dependence lies. It's in Jesus Christ.

[19:43] I depend on Him. I depend on Him to get me through hard times. I depend on Him to give me and gift to me the good times when they come because we know that every good and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lives.

[19:55] I depend on Him for everything. I depend on Him for my joy. He's speaking these things that these disciples, these 11, could have joy. And by extension that you and I can have joy.

[20:08] Verse 14, I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Just a chapter or two ago we read where Jesus Christ told the disciples, told these remaining 11, He said, if you are of the world, the world would love his own, but you are not of the world.

[20:29] In other words, you belong to me. That's why the world hates you. And you all heard me say before, the world doesn't hate you because you are you. The world doesn't hate you because your last name is Smith or Jones or whatever the case of it is.

[20:43] The world hates you because you are associated with Jesus Christ. And that's the only reason they hate you because I promise if you go out here and you let the world influence you and you start becoming like the world instead of being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, you start being conformed into the image of the world, the world will love you.

[21:02] And that's a bad sign for a child of God. That's a bad sign if the world starts to agree with you, if the world starts to lean towards you, or cater to you, whatever the case is, it's a bad sign for a child of God.

[21:19] The world hates you just as much as it hated Jesus Christ in his days. I've given them thy word. Folks, are we not begotten by the word?

[21:33] That's what the Bible says, we're begotten by the word. Christ says, I have given them thy word. And the world has hated him. Why is the world hated him? Because he has not only given them the word of God, but we read just, I think last week, we read that not only had they heard the word, they had received the word.

[21:55] That's the key to the whole thing, is to receive the word of God. It's one thing to hear, we can hear all kinds of things. Folks, I can go here and hear and or listen to all kinds of ungodly things, but that doesn't mean that I receive it.

[22:14] But to hear the word of God, and to receive the word of God, and to practice the word of God, as it tells us to, to do these things.

[22:26] And of course, I understand we got the blood of Jesus Christ that must wash us. I understand the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, I get that. And I understand that, and all these things play a part in God's redemptive plan.

[22:41] But these disciples, Christ says, I have given them thy word. But not long before this, in this same prayer, he says, they've heard the word and they've received the word.

[22:52] He says, I've given them the word and the world hated them. That's why the world hates them, because they have heard and they have received the word. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

[23:07] Verse 15, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil. This is stern words, not because Jesus spoke them, but folks, this is a wake up call for us.

[23:23] This one verse here, he says, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. Have you ever been in certain situations or circumstances that were just a dire, you're like, God, just take me on out of the world?

[23:36] Christ is praying against you here. Who do you think is going to win that battle? I think Christ will. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

[23:50] So Christ is saying, and why would he not want them just taken out? And honestly, that's a question that the world would ask, why doesn't God just save everybody?

[24:01] God gives everybody an equal opportunity to be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, through the repentance of their sin and through their belief and their trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[24:14] The Bible says in Romans 1, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. It is the power of God unto salvation. So here, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. Why?

[24:28] Because they had a mission. They had a job to do. Christ here was talking just a couple of verses ago. He says, I am no longer in the world, although we know that he was, but it was as good as done. But they were going to remain in the world to do what?

[24:43] To fulfill the great commission that Jesus Christ gave his disciples to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to every living creature. That's why he didn't want them out of the world, because the cross mission was as good as done at this point.

[25:01] As far as the redemptive work for mankind, we know that from the cross we read it here in just a couple of chapters in the future from where we're at right now when he said, it is finished.

[25:12] When he was hanging there on the cross, the work that God had sent him to do for the redemption of mankind was done at that point. But he still was buried. He was still resurrected and he still ascended to the Father.

[25:27] Amen. His work is continuing to this very day. Romans 5 says, if we were reconciled unto God by the death of Jesus Christ, how much more are we reconciled by the life that he now lives?

[25:44] What life is he now living? To be our advocate, to be our mediator, to make mediation for all those that have believed and all those that have trusted, that's the life that Christ lives now.

[25:57] How much more will we not only be reconciled, but stay reconciled for that matter? I pray not that you should have taken them out of the world, but that you should have kept them from the evil.

[26:10] Folks, again, if we're being kept in the name of God, as we were talking about a couple of verses ago, we should have no worries about evil. It doesn't mean we're not going to encounter evil.

[26:23] It doesn't mean that evil things will not happen to us. None of those things, it doesn't mean any of those things. I mean, if that was the case, Paul would have never been beheaded. If that was the case, Christ would have never been crucified.

[26:35] If that was the case, Peter would have never been crucified. If that was the case, the remaining 11 disciples would have all died of old age, but they weren't.

[26:46] They were murdered. They saved John and they tried to murder John. But I pray not that you should have taken them out of the world, but that you should have kept them from the evil. This is Christ praying on our behalf, praying on these 11's behalf, but praying on our behalf too, that God keeps them from the evil. Again, we're going to encounter evil.

[27:08] Every day we will encounter evil. If you don't encounter it, if you don't encounter it out there in the world somewhere, go look in the mirror. And you'll just might encounter some evil.

[27:20] Look in your own self, look in your flesh, folks. I'm a say born again child of God, but I've still got that little bit of Adam that's left in me, just like the rest of us do, just like the rest of us do.

[27:32] If that wasn't the case, Paul would have never made his case to crucify the flesh and to mortify the deeds of the flesh and to do it on a daily basis. If it was a once and done thing, there would be no need for daily repentance.

[27:47] Praise God, Sheila, I believe we've been used to talking about that just not long ago. But repentance is a daily thing. It's not a once and done thing. It is a daily thing that we do and that we should do and that we should want to do.

[28:03] Why? Because the Father is pleased with that. Because the Father is pleased with repentance. Verse 16, They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. So this is just kind of a reiteration of what he stated in verse 14.

[28:22] He said, they're not of the world even as I am not of the world. And again, this is the reason that the world hates Christians, that the world hates true followers of Jesus Christ is because they are affiliated with Him.

[28:40] We are not of the world. Even as Christ was not of the world. Christ came to this world. Christ was born into this world. He was born in the midst of a sinful generation.

[28:53] He was born in the midst of darkness. He was born in the midst of rebellion and unbelief. As far as his own people went, the Jewish people who had all the Old Testament Scriptures, he was born in the middle of all of that.

[29:06] He was born into the world, but he was not of the world. Christ has always been. And so much of what he says here speaks of and testifies to the pre-existence of Jesus Christ.

[29:22] In his time with the Father, remember last week when we were going through the few verses that we hit last week, we talked a little bit about that, about the pre-existence that he had, about the glory that he had with the Father.

[29:35] He was seeking that glory. And that's why he was going to the Father, was that he could share in the same glory that he had before the world began.

[29:47] This is the glory of Jesus Christ. They are not of the world. Even as I know, the world, verse 17, sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. That speaks volumes. That speaks tons.

[30:00] That speaks barrels of information to you and I. Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. You want to be further sanctified by God?

[30:12] Get into God's Word. Thy Word is truth. Christ here says, sanctify them. Sanctify them through Thy truth. Then he tells us what the truth is. Thy Word is truth.

[30:25] And this does not go against John 14 and 6 where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. It does not go against that at all because here we have the written Word of God. Jesus Christ is the living Word of Almighty God. So it does not contradict, not one iota.

[30:42] But if you want to be further sanctified by God, get into the Word of God. If you want to stray a little bit, you want to go to the right or the left, you want to go down some path that God doesn't want you on whatever, go to it three or four days without having your nose in the Bible and see how you feel.

[31:01] If you're a true, blue, born-again child of God, you will feel awful. You will feel awful. You'll feel so lost even though you feel like you saved.

[31:12] If you get out of this Word for just a couple of days, I know I do. Maybe not everybody feels that way. But if I go a day or two without reading, which is a very rare occasion, but if I do, folks, I know it.

[31:26] I know it when I've done that. Or if I've not read enough, if I've just kind of scammed or whatever the case is, read a verse, you know, said a little prayer or something like that, something that would make me feel like I've done what I was supposed to.

[31:40] I haven't done that in a long time, but I have done it. Folks, I feel awful. I feel like I ain't been fed. That's because I haven't been. And if I'm not getting fed by the Word of God, folks, I am not being sanctified anymore.

[31:56] Not that I'm no longer sanctified or consecrated for the use of God or for the service of God or by God for that matter. But it's come to a halt at that point. Sanctify them through the truth. The Word is truth.

[32:14] This is the way to sanctification. Plain and simple. This is the way. Prayer will do a ton for sanctification as well. If you're truly looking to be sent apart by God for His service, pray about that.

[32:30] Pray about it while, before and after reading through your Bible. And I think I'm going to stop right there because we're running out of time.

[32:41] I was hoping to get one more verse in, but that's okay. God bless y'all. I appreciate your attention.