Part-4 "THE INTERCEDING CHRIST"

JOHN 17:20-26  (Savior's Word's in Red)     

This is our fourth and final study of this wonderful prayer of our LORD and Saviour found in this 17th chapter of the gospel of John. In this look into scripture we will discover that we have the gracious assurance of our Saviour that He was not praying for the disciples alone, nor for the entire company of those who followed Him while He was present on earth; We are shown in this study of His Word that Jesus was in prayer for “All of His people.” Verse 20, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in me through their word;”  It is not that the Saviour begins here to present a seperate petition for a different company than those prayed for in the preceding verses. It is rather for those of the same  racial family, who were to believe through the gene­rations or ages that should follow, and link them with the first Christians. We must never forget that Yahweh is the unchanging God, Mal 3:6;  He elected a people in eternity, before the world was, to be His  people or family in the earth.....Eph 1:4-5, James 2:5, I Peter 2:9-10, Romans 8:28-30, Deut 6:3, 7:6,  I Cor 1:26-31, Exodus 6:6-8. God chose the Israel people for Himself, He has never chosen another*. The promises were established and realized in the Israel people and never in another, the disciples and the company to whom Christ taught and among whom He dwelled were the Israel people (except for Judas the jew who was picked for discipleship in order that the scrip­ture concerning the betrayal might be fulfilled). The first Christians were Israelites, and the only true Christians and called out believers in this world today are Israelites from the seed-line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob out of the Race of Adam who was  the Father or progenitor of the White Anglo-Saxon Israelite Kindred Christian family of God in the earth then and today!!! (See Strongs Concordance Hebrew to English Section, #-119 adam, #120 adam)

*(the modern church has chosen a whosoever will may come...when whosoever will is used in scripture it is used for those who and for the Holy Bible was written  Gen 5:1.."This is the book (record) of the generations (posterity) of Adam)!!

One of the great things about this prayer is things were done or accomplished in groups of seven which in Bible Numerics is the number of Spirit­ual Perfection. We listed in the third study the seven ways which Christ has identified us with Himself and the seven steps He used for an account of His work to the Father.

We are now going to view the seven things which Christ asked the Father for which would be applied to the whole company of His redeemed:

  First, He prayed for their Preservation in 17:11. .“Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me.”

  Second, He prayed for their jubilation in 17:13.. “that they might have my joy fulfilled within themselves.”

  Third, He prayed for their emancipation from evil in 17:15. .“that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

  Fourth, He prayed for their sanctification in 17:17.."sanctify them by thy truth.”

  Fifth, He prayed for their unification in 17:21.."That they all may be one.

  Sixth, He prayed for their association with Himself in 17:24.. “that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.”

  Seventh, He prayed for their gratification in 17:24.."That they may behold my glory.”

There is also contained in this prayer the truths that believers are considered in  a sevenfold relationship with the world.

  First, they are given to Christ out of the world, 17:6

  Second, they are left in the world, 17:11

  Third, they are not of the world, 17:14

  Fourth, they are hated by the world, 17:14

  Fifth, they are kept from the evil in the world, 17:15

  Sixth, they are sent into the world, 17:18

  Seventh, they will be made known in glorified unity and set before the world, 17:23

Then there are the seven gifts referred to in this Prayer of Our Saviour.

  First, Christ is given”universal power or dominion,”17:2

  Second, He was given a “Work” to do, 17:4

  Third, He was given a “people” to save, 17:6

  Fourth, He was given a richly merited “glory”, 17:22

  Fifth, We have been given “eternal life”, 17:2

  Sixth, We have been given the Father’s “Word”, 17:8

  Seventh, We have been given the”glory” which the Father gave the Son, 17:22.

The thing which we must prepare ourselves for in this fourth study of John 17 is that it deals mainly with the glorification of Christ’s people. Where He had prayed for His people according to their needs, He now looks forward to the time when they shall be no more in the world; rather they shall be where He is now. Thus, He prays that they will be unified, glori­fied and satisfied. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;” here, Jesus lets it be known that He is in prayer for all of the Christian family of God to be made known in future times. All that He had appropriated for the living disciples was being blessed on all those to come in the future. We, you and I are included in all that follows in  this magnificent prayer. Jesus has hereby placed honour upon the indivi­dual believers; our names are found in Christ’s last will and testament and we are bound up with Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Paul, Stephen and the others. Jesus Christ our Saviour not only prayed for those to whom He was committed in that day but for all believers unto the end of the age.

When you stop to consider this 20th verse it should bring you to your knees. Oh, how this powerful scripture reveals christ’s love for us. Here He was, thinking of us before we even had our being; He provided for us before we were born, just as parents provide for their children and their childrens children yet unborn. Christ foresaw that the gospel would prevail even over the hatred of the world for it, and that great numbers would yield themselves to the obedience of faith. To show us that we had a place in His heart, He names us in His blessing and in His testament, and He Prayed for us. How far beyond the understanding of man this is, yet, as this prayer continues to reach forward to eternity we know that in eternity we will fully understand it. This we do understand, Christ prayed only for the Elect. He does not pray for all men whether they believe or not. His prayers on earth reflect that He had an extent of His sacrifice and He reaches out and claims only those whom He has purchased or redeemed. His intercession in heaven is for those and those alone, just as His prayers on earth were. This is partly because it is not for the honour of Christ that His prayers should fall to the ground. The Son of God shall not have His love plead in vain, nor shall His merit not succeed.

The fundamental mark used to identify those who have an interest in the intercession of Christ is “Faith.” Wherever in scripture our benefits in Christ’s death and resurrection are spoken of, the one thing named is “Faith.” Why? Because Faith is a grace which compels us to look outside of ourselves to Him! The grounds of our faith is explained in this 20th verse and it is “their word,” the word of the apostles. Before the apostles went on to claim their prize, they, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit did embody in the words which we call the “New Testament” their doctrine and its evidence; they gave us an account of what they had taught, and the miraculous works which they had proved and were taught of God. The apostles alone can lay claim to being God’s ambassadors in the strictest sense of the word. They alone stood in Christ’s stead,  II Cor 5:20. In this 20th verse we realize that the public ministry of Christ is over and those who believed on Him were, in comparison with those who believed not, few indeed. Yet, He was not discouraged.

(I Pray) “That they may all be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” 17:21. In vs-11 Christ had asked for the oneness of all His people who were on earth at that time, here He adds to them those who were afterwards to believe,"that they may all be one." In vs 11 His request was that His people "may be one as we,"  and here in 21 that "they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us."  It really appears that a mystical union is in view here, or an obscure bonding of Father, Son and the intended family of God in the earth. There is little doubt that this prayer was for the unity of the Israel people, those in Judea and those of the 12-tribes scattered, James 1:1. This prayer was to intimate that the middle wall of partition was on the point of being broken down, much like the Berlin wall was broken down and unified the German people once more. The words of this 21st verse relate strongly to Psalm 50:5, “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” What has to be noted here is Christ did not here pray for the unity of His people so that the “world may believe in me” but”that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” The use of the word world here is meant, “the world of the ungodly” where unregenerate men are never brought to believe in Christ by any external displays of Divine power and goodness.

 â€œAnd the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” 17:22. It is clear here that the glory which the Saviour speaks of is not His essential or first glory which He possessed as the eternal Son, as co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit; this glory He never relinquished. Nor is it the visible glory He laid aside when He took the form of servant, Philippians 2:6-8. It is none of these, but it is that glory which He acquired as the Incarnate one, as the reward for His perfect work here on earth. It is to this that Isaiah referred in 53:12; "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death". Hebrews 1:2 says that an inheritance has been given to Him which Romans 8:17 says He will share with His own. By wondrous Grace, we are joint-heirs with Christ. When this 22nd verse speaks of "the glory which thou gavest me I have given them" it speaks as a parallel with Romans 8:30, " ...and whom He justified He also glorified”.  Note that it is "will" as in the future, and He has!  So absolutely certain is our future glorification that it is spoken of here as an accomplished fact. Though its actual bestowment is future, it is here presented for us, by faith, to lay hold of and enjoy even now. After all, Heb 11:1 says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for,  the evidence of things not seen.”  One last thing before leaving this 22nd verse,  the union referred to is the consequence of glory given to us. Our spiritual union has begun, but its fruition will only be attained in the life to come.

This unity is of God and Christ, unlike any man-made unity of which we read and hear today.It is not unity granted by a declared truce it is rather Unity granted by God's declared Covenant. "I in them and thou in me,  that they may be made perfect in one;  and that the world may knowest that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou loved me"  John 17:23. Where it reads, "being made perfect in one" is to have its realization at the return of Christ for His Saints, and this is when the Unity will be made complete for Christ will present himself to a glorious Church,  "holy and without blemish"  Ephesians 5:27.  This will be perfect oneness in faith, knowledge, love, holiness and glory.

When God's elect have been gathered together from being scattered abroad, John 11:52, and the glory which Christ received from the Father  is theirs and they shall have been made perfect in one; the world will then have a clear demonstration of God's Power, Grace and Love for His people that they shall know the One who died to make this glorious reunion possible was the One sent of the Father and that they had been loved by the Father as had the Son..."for then shall ye also appear with Him in glory"..Colossians 3:4. It is true that God does love the saints as he loveth Christ. Ephesians 1:6 says "He hath made us accepted in the beloved". We are chosen in him as the head of the elect, Ephesians 1:4;  we are pardoned, sanctified and glorfied in and through him. All that we receive from God the Father are benefits procured by Christ's Merit. The Father loves Christ as his  Son and loves us as sons also, I John 3:1. God the Father loves Christ as His image, Heb 1:3.  "He being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person"; He also loves his saints who are by Grace renewed after his image, Colossians 3:10. He loves Christ tenderly and, likewise us as his dear children..Ephesians 5:1. God loves Christ eternally and likewise does he love us, Jeremiah 31:1-3. What a comfort it is when we are so hated by the world to know that the Father loves us as he loves the Son.

"Father I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me" John 17:24. This verse may well be regarded as the climax  of this wonderful prayer. Once again the redeemer says: "Father" for he is suing for a childs portion for each of his people. Not asking simply for wages as a servant receives from his master, but for an inheritance as a child would receive from his parents. The inheritance being the Fathers house where he, the Savior is now.  For the first time in this prayer Christ uses the phrase "I Will".  He uses it here as a word of authority, becoming him who is God as well as man.  He speaks of it here as "His Right" on account of his purchase and of the covenant transactions between Father and Son concerning those God had given him.  The inheritance or legacy which he left us is the Kingdom of God.  What assurance we find, not one of the elect will fail to inherit. Are you not amazed at this revelation of  the heart of the Savior? He will not be satisfied until He has all of His blood bought ones in His presence. He is coming personally to accomplish this, John 14:3.

“O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee but I have known thee” 17:25. These words suggest to us that God is not only merciful, but just in glorifying the elect. Romans 5:21 says to us that “His Grace reigns through righteousness”. Christ not only left the earth without His inter­cession, He turned it over to the justice of the Father. In Divine right­eousness heavenly glory was given to the elect,  and in that same Divine righteousness it was refused to the unbelieving world. The guilt of the world lies in the words “The world hath not known me”. Why? Romans 1:19-20 has the answer, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest to them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. There is no excuse for the ungodly world. Jesus does not pronounce condemnation on the world because of its lawlessness, not its murderous hatred for Himself and His disciples, nor of indifference to the Grace and truth revealed in the gospel, but that the world knew not the Father and the Son did. “The world hath not known thee: but I have known thee.”

“And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them;  and I in them” 17:26. Here, Jesus briefly sums up what He has done and would still do for His disciples, even to make known the Father unto them. When He says “I will declare it” He is saying it is not to be limited. It is striking that in the last verse of this prayer the important thing mentioned is not faith, glory or even eternal life.. it is “love.” Is love that important? Read I Cor 13:13. What we may not fail to note here is that the love of the Father dwells in us only through the mediation of the Son, hence the final words, “and I in them.” How blessed we are to have the love of Christ in us, and the love of the Father in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no better way to close this study from the glorious Gospel of John than by offering a Prayer of Thanksgiving for the assuring love of the Father and His Divine Grace that He sent His eternally begotten Son to seek and save that which was lost. Thank you Jesus!

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,  we give thanks to thee O merciful God, through Yahshua Messiah, and pray that thy will be done in our lives as your servant children. We thank you for the saving Grace which has poured forth from thy throne in the Person of thine only begotten Son Christ Jesus who is our Lord and Savior. Forgive us our selfish ways and cause us to know thee as Yahweh God Almighty our creator, our life giver and sustainer. Bless us our Father and cause us to know that we do indeed Bless Thee;  and keep us from sin and trespass, In Christ Jesus/Yahshua's name we pray...Amen!!

PASTOR RICK GIESENSCHLAG

CHRIST’S CHURCH MILITANT

Copyright (C) 2004 a.d.