Gospel of John, 17:19-21
John 17:19-21 · Mike Doyle · Oct 26, 2008
Gospel of John (2008), No. 43
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492611595168

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

I've got to finish up so we can get off to the airport. I apologize. We're going to do the tag team today with Mike and I. Since I did not finish his lesson, he's going to finish that on Lesson 34. And then next week we'll go on to a new one. I think you have the lesson for next week. Yeah. Alright, we are going to be in lesson 35 and I believe I got through halfway of question 9.

That's where at least I have the mark on mine, which was what does Jesus mean in verse 19 when he says for their sakes I sanctify myself and What does he mean when they that they may be sanctified? So the verse was for their sakes for their sakes I sanctify myself that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth we went over the first part of that and about just what that means.

And I quoted the Marcus Rainsford one, the book that is all on, just on John 17. And the quote that I read was, There is a depth and fullness here which can never be fully expressed, even in heaven. Observe, our Lord not only lays the foundation of His people's sanctification in the reality of His own, but he also estimates the fullness and the completeness of it by the same standard. So realize that Jesus is saying for their sake and for ours that he is dedicating, consecrating, or setting apart his whole self, his person, Godhead, manhood, soul, everything, so we may be set apart and sanctified.

So that's as far as we got last time. So what does it mean that they may also be sanctified? What does that mean, the second part of the question? stunned silence. They're being set apart for His glory. For His glory. Being set apart. Remember, sanctification. What does that mean? Set apart.

So, that they may also be sanctified. As in verse 17, it says, we may be sanctified in truth, which means set apart in Christ. Again, I think the key, when you look at a lot of these prompts, especially when you go into Ephesians, I always love that lots of them are in Him. It's all because we're in Him. So, which means we're set apart in Christ, in God's Word. He was dedicating Himself to us so we may be set apart in Him.

It's also, you know, and now that Craig's here he can verify this with his Bible saw, the Greek words here for sanctification. A little bit interesting, when he talks about his sanctification, it's in the present active indicative. So this means that it's a continuous action. Present means continuous action. So he's continually sanctifying. That he is the subject doing it. And that it's a statement of fact or reality. So him being set apart or sanctified, it's continuous. It is a statement of fact. It's real. For the first part of his sanctification, it's him doing it. The subject produces the action.

But you and I are sanctified in him. Then the second part about them being sanctified. When you look at that one, it's in the perfect tense and passive voice. So I want to pull it out because the difference between his sanctification, that I may be sanctified, that they may be sanctified.

So you look at the difference. It's a continuous one for him. It's a fact of reality. And he's the one doing it. The second one, that they may be sanctified, it's in the perfect tense. And this means our sanctification was completed when we believed. And that person has present results. So it's an action that happened with continuous results.

It's also in the passive, which means it's being acted upon on us. So, who's doing the sanctification? He is setting us apart. So, again, when I think of grace and all the things that we do, how much do we do? Yeah, I mean, I'm not a Greek scholar. I don't profess to be. But I've got enough to be, I think, dangerous.

No. It makes it interesting when you look at some of this stuff. It just kind of helps when you can kind of look at a few of these things, when you look at the mood and the tense and the voice, all those different things. Sometimes it really brings out a little bit more of the meaning.

What were you going to say, sir? Why don't we set up part one and two? Good question. I think we answered that in one of the previous questions. What is our mission? Is it the same as his? Actually, that was the question, I think, right before this, wasn't it? If I remember right. Yeah, question eight. Do we have the same mission being set apart? Sure. We had a split vote on the last time. Yes and no. We don't have the deity, nor do we have our purpose to come to die and pay for sins. Other than that, our mission is the same. And what is the mission?

To glorify the Father. To do His will. We're being set apart to do that very same thing. To glorify the Father. So, yes, we're being set apart to glorify Him, to do the will, and the others be conformed to His image. If we're conformed to His image, what do we do? We'll do His will.

My thought that hit me was the personification of the identification truths that we were, in Christ, separated from the world, Adam, sin, for the specific purpose to manifest Christ in a world that We couldn't go in and do it if we were still part of it.

Yeah. And that was part earlier, some of the questions too. And we'll actually get to one of the interesting questions. Ingrid actually had it, and it was interesting. I hadn't looked at it, and she brought up a question when I was, she was going through the questions at home. We'll get into that and the differences of that. Oh no, no, I just, I'm thinking ahead of some of the questions I have. Okay, and question 10. Again, lesson 35, question 10.

Who is Jesus talking about in verse 20? And what does that mean with respect to all that Jesus has spoken in his prayer to the Father? So if we read verse 20, it says, I do not ask on behalf of those alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word. First question is, is this the same group that is spoken of in verse 9? I ask on their behalf, I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me, for they are yours." Is that the same group? Yes, I think so. We have a split camp again. I love these. We have yeses and nos. and lots of chickens in between. I think there are two groups mentioning it. I've got to go back. This is probably Mike's same thing.

I love when you're kind of unsure. When I'm up here, you get like a one-finger kind of raised hand. I can see the confidence in your vote by how high your hand is raised. If you're not real sure, you don't really want to see anybody, so you can see the vote on here.

Anyway, that's just a commentary. It has to be yes because we were set apart at the beginning of time. Okay, and the no's? Are you a yes or a no? I think they're both in this verse. He's a no. I was thinking about the disciples. Because he says, I pray for these immediate disciples and then he's also praying for them who shall believe on me through their word. So he's praying for both the disciples there and all those who would believe. from that time.

And Winnie, you were a no. Yeah, I was a no and that was it. He says in 9 that he's going to ask on their behalf, meaning the disciples, but not on behalf of the world. But then in 20, he says not on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in him.

But Christ had no sins to be done away with. It's a statement of fact. It's not something to be attained. Yeah. Well, you know, as far as the groups, I think, like Mike, verse 9 was for the disciples only. But 20 takes into account both of them. It says, not only the ones you've given me, but also, and this is, as I said before, this is I think one of the key verses in the Gospels. Because he says, not only them, but what?

On those who believe. Who is he talking about? That one just put all these things that he's talking about on who believed. He says, who believe through their word. It's going to be the word that the disciples put out. They were the beginning. They were the foundation of the church. I mean, the foundation of the beginning of the church. They were the first ones to spread the word.

So yeah, it was through their word that we believe, because they spoke the word. So yeah, but the cool part, like I said, and this is, like I said, one of, I think, as I said, I love John 17, and this verse in particular, because what does it do? All those things he's talked about, now comes upon those who believed.

Who's that? That's us. So, you know, I just, when you think of all that he's, what does he reveal just in this prayer to his father? He talked about, so, remember the link. He talked about the disciples, and then he linked those, us, to all the disciples. So what does he talk about in John 17 here? What does he talk to them about? Verse 3, what does he say?

Eternal life. Verse 12, keep them in your name. What does that mean? Keep them. He was going to keep them in your name. What about in verse 12-2? He guarded them so not one of them would perish. Verse 13, that his joy may be full in them. Think about that. That his joy may be full in them. What about the 15? Keep them from the evil one. 17, sanctified in His word or truth. And then in verse 3, that we might be what? In them. In verse 21.

Think of all these things. Now those apply to who? Us. You know, and I think about this. You know, we go through the Lewisbury-Chaffer, the 33 positional truths that one, you believe, and there are others that, you know, what, the 600 or whatever that also apply.

Think of all those things. You know, when we were teaching that class, I always remember, you know, just think if you pick up like one or two of those and really, truly believe that. I mean, deep down in your heart, you realize that is a truth that's applicable to you. Think about all these things he's just told you that apply to us now. Guarded, kept, eternal life. All these things. Do you believe that? Do you really believe what he just told them is now applicable to you? in Him. All these things are true. Keep them. What are you worried about? You know, the Alfred E. Newman, what me worry? That was a dated one and you guys probably have no clue what that is. Why do we worry?

He told us He's going to guard us. He's going to keep us. He's going to give us eternal life. He's going to put us in Him. You know, what more do you want? I think this, of all the verses, is one of the keys for us. Because he said, in this intimate prayer between him and the Father, he said, those who believed, which put us into that category. So everything he's been talking about now, says, OK, it goes to us. So I just think that's probably one of the key verses for us as believers. Because if you understand that, everything now that he's talked about now applies to us, that he's been sharing with the disciples. All right.

Similar in question 11. What does verse 21 tell us about our relationship to Jesus and the Father? And verse 21 of John 17, that they may all be one, even 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 sent me. What does that say about our relationship to Jesus and the Father? intimacy, one of my favorite words, intimacy with the Lord.

This is unbelievable. It's actually believable, but it's awesome. It is incredible. We now have the same intimacy that the Father and the Son have. I go back to what I just said. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that? I mean, you know, as I keep beating everybody up myself, you know, the turmoil and all the elections and all the stuff and all the things going on in the world. You have that intimacy with the Father? Are you worried? Well, I guess I am a little bit. But if things happen, you know, things happen, you know what? It doesn't matter. It makes no difference. I think I told somebody this too. I remember back, I don't remember, I said this last week, but I was thinking about this. I was a Broncos fan, big Broncos fan. And in 77, when they first went to the Super Bowl, big, huge thing.

It was just, oh, for Denver people, that was unbelievable. It was just, oh, great. I remember Walter Conkite was on. They were interviewing him in the midst of the Broncos playoff, or the Super Bowl. And it was, I think, 300 million people were going to watch or something, and all this. And it was a big hoopla, and everything goes on at the Super Bowl. And I remember they interviewed dry Walter Cronkite, you know, in his dry voice. And this is a heptabronco fan. He says, you know, this is one of those great events. There's 300 million people going to watch this game, and it has absolutely nothing to do with anything. I'm a Bronco fan. I'm like, what do you mean? This is tomorrow. It doesn't matter. That's the way we should look at the world.

You know, really, whatever the elections, did God go, whoops, I missed that? You know, anything they're going through, high gas prices, financial, whatever, was it going to keep you? Was it going to guard you? Do you have that intimacy with the Father? Did that go away with the elections, with financial troubles, with whatever? Did that intimacy go away? Never. Never. Now this is the one Inger brought up.

How do you explain the difference in the way the world reacts as expressed in verse 14? Okay, look at that one. What did it say about the world? What would that do? What would they do? The world hated them. What about in verse 21? That the world may believe that you sent me. How do you reconcile that? Very good question she asked me at home. We were hoping you had a really good answer. I took a little time to think about it, but I thought it was a great question. What do you think?

How do you reconcile that? We aren't of this world. We're not of this world. So they hated us. But the world may believe. I choose to have their ears tickled. How do you reconcile that? I guess I'd ask the question, is the world referred to here the world of the present day or the world to come? I take this as the world that they, right now, them. So I've got less than a minute to go. Any other thoughts? You better tell us the answer. I have no answer. I was hoping you'd know. I thought it really didn't matter. The world would hate you because you're not of the world.

That was expressed and we know that. Light, dark, there's a lot of things that show the world will hate us because we're not of the world. There's a lot of things that way. It still doesn't mean we are to be ambassadors for Christ. We're supposed to be the light. They may hate us, but they still can believe. Who is left on the earth? Why did he leave us here? What is our mission?

It doesn't say that the world may believe that you sent me. It doesn't say that everybody is going to love you. But there are going to be people who will see Christ through us. And those people, it doesn't say in verse 21 that everybody is going to love us. It says that the world will believe. Why are we here? What is our mission? So I don't think they're conflicting. I think the world will hate us. But we are here to do what? That they may believe.

How did you believe? You had somebody tell you, right? You probably hated him. I remember the first guy who told me about the Lord. I was pigeonholed on a flight. I had a three-hour flight. I was a young kid, and this guy grilled me for two or three hours, and I just wanted to smack him. I hate to say that, but that's the truth. I hated it. I didn't want any part of this.

And there's no place to go on a plane. You can't get off and go somewhere. And on a full plane, you can't go sit anywhere else. I was in high school. And I remember, boy, I hated him. I said, dude, that was the worst flight of my life. But, you know, Lord working on my heart over years, you know. So, you want something real quick? Actually, I could use it as a segue if you want. Okay, I got one. Last one real quick, and then we'll get to your question and we'll segue in.

Why is this relation important to us today? Basically, for all the things we've been talking about. We're not from around here. We're not from around here. Our citizenship is in heaven. We now have intimate, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year access to God the Father. Remember, as Christ is intimately speaking with the Father, we can also go before Him and cry out, what?

Abba, Father. Intimate, Daddy. And that's why I love this section of Scripture. It shows the intimacy, and when He links us to that same intimacy, we have that intimacy. That's why we can say, Abba, Father. He's told us that. You know, in this set up in 17, he's told us that. And so, you know, later when in scripture, you know, cry out, Abba, Father. He said we have the same intimacy, that same oneness that the Father and the Son have. We now have that with them. Alright, Mike, did you have? If you look back and answer that question, Chapter 3, verse 19.

And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light. So I think it's the natural tendency of the old man to hate the light. If you are united to Christ, who is the light? He's the light of all men. then just by virtue of the fact that you're united to him, you will be hated, because the world hates him.

So how do you say, the latter part of that verse though is, or in 21, that they may know him? See I think this is where the Holy Spirit, I mean the Holy Spirit convicting people, and we are instruments in God's hands, you know, that's where I don't think, they'll still hate us, but there are some that the Holy Spirit is convicting, and we are left here for what? The problem the world has right now is that there is light in the world. And it is convicting. And they can't get away from it. Yeah.

Anyway, any other questions before I tag team the mic here? Thoughts? Less than a 30 second question? Yeah, in that verse 21, as I was reading about this, you know, there is intimacy in that verse, but it's also talking about unity. Oh, absolutely. Unity of love, and obedience to God and His Word, and a united commitment to His will, because you need to manifest that to the world if you want to bring Christ to, or bring people to salvation. Oh, yeah.

You know, it's kind of like, I think what Mike said, like in the millennium, you know, when we're ruling and reigning. Do we have a big sign that says... No. You know, they'll know just by looking at us. If we have the unity, the intimacy with Him, I think people will know that. There are several people we've talked about that you just know. They know the Lord. Just being with them, you know that. And I think that's because they have an intimate relationship with the Lord. And I think that intimacy comes out. And so, yeah, there is a lot to the world. The unity, I mean, did the Father and the Son fight? No, they never. The Son did the Father's will at all times.

You know, there's a lot in this verse that, you know, I go to in that intimacy. The other thing which I always go back to, which is one of those things in, when we studied on that Tuesday, finally everything went and clicked, was on in him. In him and the intimacy that we have, that when Adam was walking in the garden, I always thought, why in Genesis, you know, I've gone over this many times, why in Genesis did, he's walking in the cool of the garden, walking side by side, and he said, you need somebody. What do you mean you need somebody? I'm with the Lord. What more do I want?

But it was two different levels of relationship. You know, it's kind of like I can walk with my dog and have a great relationship, but it's not quite the same. I mean, you know, just a great relationship, but we just can't talk on the same level. Well, maybe some people think I can talk on that level.

But the switch came when we are new creatures in Christ. We now have, Christ is the federal head of the new creatures, the new Adam. So we can talk on a level that Adam couldn't. So again, that's where all this intimacy comes from because we're now, we're a creature. We're the new creature.

He's the head. Alright, tag. Well, it's interesting because I've been sitting all week thinking, well, I have to go back to the verses that he forgot to cover last week. And they're verses 11 and 12. And what's interesting, it's exactly the same subject that we're talking about now. So let's look at Now I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you.

Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are one. So there it is, there's that oneness again. So, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou has given me, I've kept. and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

So, my first question, if you look at lesson 34, we had gotten down to question 10, and what I wanted to know was, why does Jesus' language indicate when he's praying that all of these things are past tense? He prays as though they are already accomplished. and a lot of things, you know, I have glorified you on the earth, I finished my job, how come he speaks from that perspective?

He knows it will come to pass. Yeah, he knows it's a certainty for sure that it's going to be, that he's going to finish the task that he was sent to do, so he views it as has already done. The other thing is that when God determines something, it is done. It isn't in the future. It's like when you and I were chosen in Christ before the foundations of eternity, that's when you were placed there.

And then in question 11, there are two words used in regards to the safety of the disciples. What are the words? Easy words. Verse 11 and 12. Keep and guard. Alright, keep. They're different words in that they, if I'm to be kept, I'm protected by restraint. In other words, I'm carefully observed and I'm looked after from without. That I'm protected. The word guarded is protection from external peril. Something describes the protection of something held as if it were within the line of defense from external assault. So I'm held inside from protection outside and I'm also held from internal assaults too. So both sides taken together. These words give a picture of complete deliverance from all perils whether they are within or without.

Now, when he says that we should be kept in his name, what does that mean? He says in verse 11, keep through your name those who you have given me that they may be one as we are one. What does that mean that we should be kept in his name? You can say that they were men, like any other men, that they were, you know, they have displayed so far the same infirmities that every other man would have, that they betrayed their petty jealousies, they were totally sin-infested human beings, even though they were called. He's just saying there that God is going to keep them through his name. Why in his name? Why his name? He's the ultimate source.

I could say, keep me in Jack's name. How good would that be? It would depend on the veracity of Jack and the power that Jack had. So his name A name really means something. So it's the power in the father's name. Does he have the capacity to keep him and protect him? Absolutely he does. So when the Lord says to keep him in your name, he knows full well that the father is able to do that. So he couldn't call on any other name that would be of any greater benefit to them than the father himself.

But that also has a whole precept to his back to scripture. If you're one with him, you can't be separated. That's right. And that's a good point, Jack, because this whole thing connotes an idea of a fixed position. They're already fixed, like we are. We're already fixed, and so the keeping It's not something that God has to really strive to do. We're already in, so to speak.

I was reading some Ironside stuff this week, it was really kind of interesting. He told a story about a woman and a preacher, probably a hundred years ago, maybe by now. And the preacher was one of those guys that was pastor of a big church, but he wasn't necessarily a believer yet, even though he'd been a pastor a long time.

And a raggedy girl knocked on his door in the middle of the night and said, my mother's dying, you have to come down to the ghetto where I live, and you have to get her in. And he said, well, what do you mean, get her in? And she said, well, he said, well, you can go talk to the guy at the rescue mission. He'll get you in. And she said, no, I prayed about this, and you're the one. You're the guy who is the pastor of the biggest church in town, so you need to come down to get her in. And so she persuaded him.

So he gets dressed in the middle of the night and he goes down there. He goes to a place where he would never go even in the daytime. He walks into their humble apartment and she says to her mom, he's here to get you in. And the man said, get me in where? Get you in where?

And the lady said, well, I've been a sinner all my life and I'm going to die right now and I want to get into heaven before I go. And so the man after a while knelt down with her and he thought, gee I don't have a sermon to give her. The only thought that came to his mind was the gospel message. And he gave her the gospel message and she got in and so did he.

So what's interesting about this prayer right here is that the Lord Jesus is asking the Father to do something that's already a fixed position. And it fits with why he says things sometimes in the past tense. Yeah. They're to be kept directly by the Father because they now share the same relationship with him as Jesus had when he was on the earth. You hear that? Okay. So here's my question that segues from Courtney.

Describe what oneness means. Describe the oneness Jesus needs here. And what is the oneness that we have? I mean, we all could belong to the same fraternity, we all could be Republicans, we all could be... It's the oneness in Christ. Describe what oneness is. Well, we've been studying it forever, that we believe and trust in him. We died with him. What's similar to you that is similar, or the same thing as Christ? What do you have that's just like his? Heavenly life. A life? And what else?

We are like-minded. We are one in counsel with the Father. The Father speaks to us in no other way than the way he already speaks with the Lord Jesus. We are one in aim and direction. We are one in purpose. We are one in object. What's the object of the Father's love? The Lord Jesus Christ and us in Him. So what's the object of our love? The Lord Jesus Christ and the Father. It's the same thing. The oneness is the oneness of nature. When we talk about union, I'm not sure we understand as clearly as we probably could what this oneness is and how it translates into how we function. Over the last few weeks, every class I'm in, somehow politics comes up.

And if we're not of the world, you think the Lord Jesus is up there sweating about who's going to get elected? And the consequences of whoever gets elected or whatever the Congress is or whatever happens to the United States, you think he's nervous about it?

He's already determined. He's already determined what's going to happen and he already is going to use it for the enhancement and the approval of believers in the body of Christ. And he's also going to use it for the condemnation of the world. That's a good point. You said he's already determined it, but isn't Satan the one of this world, the God of this world, that gets in the minds and hearts of people? Well, it isn't so much that Satan gets in the minds and hearts of people, he already controls them.

Every single one of them. That's what concerns me. Yet you said that God has determined this. I know he knows what's going to happen. Well, let's see how I can answer that. Allowing things to happen and determining them. You were around during the Second World War, right? Yes, sir.

And when we defeated Japan, what did we do with those people? What did we do with them? We put them to work, didn't we? Who'd they work for? Us. Right? How come? Because they're defeated, that's why. When Satan is defeated by the cross of Christ, what did God do with him?

He put him to work. He works for the Lord Jesus Christ. Not willingly, but unwillingly. But he is absolutely the unwilling servant of Christ. Because he tells us the power of the evil one. So for the believer to be positioned in Christ, how much positional influence does Christ have on the believer? Positional now. Think about it. You are positioned in Christ in oneness with Him. How much influence can Satan have on you? Conditionally, he can have influence on you only by whose determination? Do you think he gets to decide? He doesn't get to decide.

You know, I tell this story on my buddy Sean Sherman all the time, you know, because he came to the Tuesday group years ago and, you know, we were asking for prayer requests and he asked that we pray that Satan would not pick on him, because he was having a tough week.

And I said to him, Satan doesn't know your name, nor does he know where you live. And he said, oh yes he does. He's been after me all week long. I said, so what you're telling me is, Satan, who's not omnipresent, has determined that you are the greatest threat on the earth to him of any other human being, so he came to Denver just to pick on you. Right? Well, no, he's got lieutenants. I said, I see. So he emailed his lieutenants and said, that charm is getting in my way, you need to do something. You see how ridiculous that is?

The point is, is that I've always viewed Satan as an attack dog on a choke chain, and the Lord Jesus Christ has got a hold of that chain. And if he lets a mouth towards me, what's it designed to do? To drive me farther into Christ, right? So there's not a thing that can go on from Satan that isn't ordained of your Father to approve you and to cause you to grow in Christ.

Not a thing. Now if you're in the world, it's a different story. He controls you. The most significant way he controls the world is that everybody's got to send nature. So what does he have to worry about? Chester McCauley made an interesting comment.

He said when Satan got Eve in the garden and subsequently got Adam, in his mind he thought what was going to happen was that all human beings were going to line up to worship him. You know what really happened? They all lined up to worship themselves. And he went, oh my goodness, they're all like me. They're just like me.

And so, how would Satan have the world run? In perfect peace and harmony, everybody running off to church on Sunday. But because we all have sin natures, there's nothing but chaos. Nothing but chaos. And he can't control it. Because he's self-centered just like everybody else is.

So, you have to look at Satan as a defeated foe. What do you do with people you defeat? You put them to work for your benefit. Isn't that what you do with them? Do they have a choice? Satan has a will. Does he have a choice as to what he's going to do with a believer? He has no choice. None. Not a single one. Because you're one in Christ, that's why. He doesn't sit around and say, what can I do to Christ today?

I thought I was thinking of Job, I guess. The Lord allowed him to do so much. Who started that little dance? Satan did. No, no, no. Go back and read it. Satan's doing a back and forth and God says, hey, Lucifer, Satan, you see my son Job? He's a righteous man, isn't he? So who started it? God did. And Satan said, yeah, but you protect him. If you wouldn't protect him, I could turn him. He said, okay, help yourself. You just can't take his life. Who won that game? The Lord did. So we have this inflated idea about who Satan is. He is everything described But because of our oneness and our unity with Christ, he has nothing that he can do with us other than help us grow. He's been put to work for our benefit.

Doesn't it say in Revelation that that's when he's finally defeated, is at the end of the world? He's not defeated. He is, and at the end of the world he's finally defeated and he's cast in a lake of fire and he can't influence even those that are lost, right?

So you and I as believers, what has happened to us? We have been crucified with Christ, buried and resurrected, and we are now in the new creation in Christ. As far as we're concerned, that's already happened in our relationship to Satan. It's over for him. For us, but I'm talking about the world. Oh no, not for the world. Not for the world.

All a believer has to do is read the paper. Watch the 10 o'clock news, and that's all you need to see. When you turn on the television at 10 o'clock at night to watch the news, what are you watching? You're watching death. That's all you're watching. You're not watching life, you're watching death functioning. A world that hates God. The thing that bothers us believers so much about the present world is that we really were convinced that because we were a Christian country this wasn't going to happen to us.

Guess what? So, oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ is to be united with him in mind and aim and life in moral existence with the Father. There isn't anything about you that's displeasing to God the Father, because you're in Christ, because you're just like Him. Or maybe put it another way, the reason we can have fellowship with Him is because we're in Him. You see that?

Now like Courtney was saying, and I absolutely agree with him, all of these stupendous facts that we read and study, The ladies down at Parker are studying the 34 things that we have in Christ. What's interesting about that, we're about a third of the way through them. Courtney's right. If one lady would believe one of those things and enter into it, it would totally change her life. Totally change it. Our perception is that we're outside of Christ, we're striving to be united, and we want relief from all this external stress or whatever, and we want victory over sin. Well, let's see. God says, keep working as hard as you can and we'll figure it out at the end. It's done. We just don't believe him. We do not believe him. Because we believe our experience before we believe the Word of God. That's really the problem. That's really the issue.

We live in a society today where the Word of God is not presented objectively, it's presented anecdotally. You understand what I mean by that? In other words, you listen to evangelists and you listen to preachers and what verifies what they're saying? It's their experience. My experience is da-da-da-da-da, so it must be true. That's an anecdotal experience.

Very few people open up the Word of God and say, well, here's what it says, and this is true. It doesn't matter what your experience is, the Word of God matters. You don't hear that today. And so that's why we have such trouble believing and resting in positions that we have that are just dependence. Courtney made the great statement, isn't it unbelievable? No, it's not. Not for us.

It hasn't entered into the mind of man the things that God has in store for those who love him. Everybody likes to stop there, you know what the next part of the verse is? But God has revealed them unto us. He's already done it. Our problem is that we look at all these wonderful things and say, well, okay, maybe someday, rather than, oh, thank you, taking the grace and going with it. Was this oneness accomplished while Jesus was here on the earth?

No. Not until the Holy Spirit... Everybody think no? Well, I said because the Holy Spirit had not yet come. The Holy Spirit had not yet come. Then how come the Lord talks about it in the past tense? Well, it was done in the past. You could say, I think that's a yes and a no answer. No, I really do. I really think, I think no because Pentecost hadn't happened and we weren't baptized in Christ. Yes, because all the requirements of the Father to manifest God on the earth were met in Christ. It's all done. And it was done by divine power and not by any of our efforts. So yes positionally, no conditionally.

So who is the son of perdition? Judas. How about the Antichrist? It's interesting. When you look at this A verse that says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name, those that you gave me. I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition. And for what reason? That the scriptures might be fulfilled. So who is this person? Barack Obama, George Bush, Osama Bin Laden.

Well, the reference here gives 1318, and he who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me, which would be Judas. So they seem to think it's Judas. So my question about that is, well, that poor Judas didn't have a choice. God determined beforehand that he was going to be the son of perdition. You know what, Judas? Too bad. What do you think? Judas had no choice in the matter.

I think in the exact same way that we're chosen of Christ, he had no choice in the matter. So he was going to, he has a will, right? He can exercise it. So is this one of those deals where God knew what he was going to do beforehand and said, ah, I got a son of perdition because I know what this guy is going to do. I'm going to pick him. What do you think? Well, he knew before what was going to happen. I think he said he didn't pick it, but he knew it was going to happen.

When the son of perdition is talked about here and the things like hardening Pharaoh's heart and all that other thing, how do you coordinate that with the fact that God is sovereign and has a sovereign will and he creates creatures who have wills who can decide? Oh, by the way, he holds every human being responsible for the decision they make, doesn't he?

If you decide not to believe in Christ, you're responsible for that. If you decide to believe, you're safe. He also says that if you acknowledge him as God and are thankful, he won't turn you over to a reprobate mind. So how do you reconcile God's sovereignty and my will? Judas's will.

Have you ever thought about that? Or is that not a question you care about? It's a perfectly legitimate question. What's that? It's a perfectly legitimate question. Yeah. And God in his sovereignty and in his will did not in any way violate Judas's will. In other words, he didn't set him up. Did he? Or did he? No, he didn't.

Did he set Pharaoh up? All these good questions. Pharaoh had already hardened his heart. Yeah, see, you have to take people... But doesn't it say that God hardened his heart? Well, that's what it says in English. So God specifically acted on Pharaoh. Let me offer you a scenario.

Men love the darkness rather than light. their deeds are evil, they won't come to the light. They hate God. They are without hope in the world. They will not come to God. So here all they are, and here's God over here. God doesn't do anything. He doesn't act in any way. Do one of these guys wake up one day and say, you know, this is the pits. I think I'd like to be on God's side of the street. You think that would happen? That's right.

That's the point, that God does something, so what does he do? He comes at man, doesn't he? He makes the first move. And he comes at man in his grace. And in the cross of Christ, he took care of all the barriers so that he can come out in grace. Even in the Old Testament, he's acting in grace.

Men bring their sins to the table, what does God bring? Mercy and grace. So Pharaoh brings himself to the table, what does God bring? A hardening of the heart? No. He brings his mercy and grace. When Pharaoh determines that he's not going to move off of his hard heart, what does God do? He withdraws his mercy and his grace. Did he specifically harden him? No, he just left him where he was.

You understand what I'm saying? It's the same thing when you study Judas. What's the deal with Judas? The Lord Jesus, if you study when we did, He tried to save him. He went after him a couple of times. Judas wouldn't have anything to do with it. He decided. You see that? So the point is that God, because He acts in mercy and grace, if He withdraws His grace from a person, they just stay where they are. Can you say that God hardened their heart? Well, he didn't make it any harder than it already was.

Can you say that Judas, he's called the son of perdition, but can you say he's any different than anybody else who's hardened his heart and refuses what God offers? Judas repented of what he did. But he still didn't come to Christ. He went and hung himself, or whatever he did.

What's interesting is, it's like when you catch your son doing something bad and he's really sorry. You know what he's really sorry about? He got busted. He's not sorry that he's offended you, he's sorry he got caught. So you can munch on that and we'll talk about it more next week if you want. Anyway, let's close.

Dear Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy and the fact that you have let us listen in and look over your shoulder as your Son prays to you about us and about the grace that is extended to us, Father, that we might pick it up and use it and rest in it, Father. In your Son's name, Amen.