Names of God's Children

 

THE GREATEST PRAYER EVER SPOKEN 

John 17:6-19

 

This prayer contains some deep things which are hard to understand, but absolutely wonderful and the Scriptures are plain on these truths for the Christian faith. And these things that are hard to understand is this….. The Lord Jesus does things for His believing people which He does not do for the wicked and unbelieving. (v6-v10) The Lord Jesus does not pray that His believing people to be taken out of this world, but to be kept from the evil of it. (v11-v19) Lets look at the first thing this week.  Jesus prays for….. 

The Lord Jesus does things for His believing people which He does not do for the wicked and unbelieving. What is before us is something that specially hated by the world, and that is that Jesus helps the believer by special intersession. Jesus says, “I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them whom You have given Me.” J C Ryle in his commentary said, “Nothing gives such offence, and stirs up such bitter feeling among the wicked, as the idea of God making any distinction between man and man, and loving one person more than another, Yet the world’s objection to the doctrines is, as usual, weak and unreasonable.” Like every other gospel truth, the doctrine before us needs careful declaration and Scriptural guarding as we handle the word of truth. As we look at this prayer, we must not narrow the love of Christ to sinners, and on the other we must not make it too broad. It is absolutely true that Christ loves all sinners, that is evident in His interactions with those who loved, and those who hated Him.

 

We read, “After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:27-32

 

What is Jesus saying? “The religion made by man, will die with man, and those who trust in Me will have eternal life.” When doctors call on sick people, they must get up close and personal with them to have any hope of helping and healing them. So, too, Jesus calls sinners to Himself. His love for the lost compels Him to come down to where they are, and get mud on His feet with them. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10. Paul wrote as reminder of His love for all lost sinners, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8. But here is where people get angry, even inside the church. Though Jesus loves all sinners and invites all to be saved. But it is also true…. that He specially loves the “blessed company of faithful people whom He sanctifies and glorifies. Redemption is sufficient for all people and offered freely to all; but it is also true that His redemption is effectual only to them that believe. If someone is outside of Christ in redemption, there sin still remains. God’s wrath is not directed towards a person simple because of what they do, but also because of what they are. Man’s fallen state and rebellion evokes the wrath of God. But those who are His, we are protected from that wrath, because of what Christ has done in redemption.

 

Jesus prays specifically for them and not this world. Why? Because they have been called out of darkness by a holy God, it’s through this effectual call they respond with repentance and faith. (that’s mans responsibility) The doctrine that Jesus is emphasizing here is the doctrine of Election. What Jesus is praying for here, affirms that this doctrine is true, and its full of compassion for lost sinners, who are saved by His grace.

 

Everything from our fall, to our redemption

is all of grace, God’s grace

 

Paul knew this truth after God saved him from his own destruction. “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,” Gal 1:15. A good understanding of this text is, “God destined Paul; or purposed Paul from his very birth that he should be a preacher and an apostle. The meaning is, that God had in his secret purposes set him apart to be an apostle. It does not mean that he had actually called him in his infancy to that work, for this was not so, but that he designed him to be an important instrument in his hands in spreading the true gospel.” See, when we approach passages such as this it is much easier for me, to pass over it, for the sake to never cause trouble for the church. But that would be a great disservice on my part as your shepherd as R C Sproul said about the pastor’s responsibility, “I myself struggle with the doctrine of predestination and election when I was a young Christian. Even now, I struggle with certain things that are plainly taught in the Word of God. To combat this tendency in my life, when I was in seminary, I kept a card on my desk that said, “You are responsible to believe and to teach what the Bible teaches, not what you would like for it to teach.” 

Just because there something in the Word of God that I don’t like, or that you may not like; the problem is not with the Word of God, it’s with me, it’s with you. This is the struggle with many well-intent believers of the gospel have when they are faced with passages like this one before us this morning. The doctrine of God’s sovereign election is not a secret item found rarely in obscure passages of Scripture. But the argument, the disagreement, always come back to our free will. 

First “free will” does not mean that mankind can do anything he pleases. Our choices are limited to what is in keeping with our fallen nature. For example, you can choose to walk across a bridge, skip across a bridge, run across a bridge, walk backwards across a bridge, even crawl on your belly across a bridge. But what you cannot do is choose to fly over the bridge, your nature prevents you from flying. The same is true according to the Scriptures, “a man cannot choose to make himself righteous, his sin nature prevents him from cancelling his guilt. Rom 3:23. This was evident in Judas, when God chose him to fulfill the plan, and yet Judas was never coerced nor had some invisible hand forcing him to betray Jesus. Judas, had every opportunity as the rest of the disciples, and lost people today, to find forgiveness and grace. Judas, heard the sermons, the illustrations, he was present at the sweet fellowship surrounded by God’s people, he was instructed on the parables about the unjust and the steward, the message of the wedding garments, he witnessed the feeding of thousands of people, he was present when the greatest message was ever preached.

 

And all this he betrayed Jesus, the one who loved him to the end. “Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man for a kiss?” Luke 22:48. Judas acted freely on his own and he was completely responsible for his own actions, just like every one who dies outside of God’s grace.

 

The bible does affirm human responsibility right

alongside the doctrine of election.

 

Its my responsibility to preach Christ for the sake of the elect, in every venue or circumstance, in my home, this church, and every where in between. The Scriptures are very clear on man’s response where the gospel is presented. Isaiah 55; Rev 22:17; 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; John 6:37. A total “free will” would be the capacity to make choices without any external constraints or compulsion. There is nothing in the Scriptures that teach that human beings have this type of free will, ONLY God is perfectly free from all constraints.

 

The Bible is very clear that without Christ we are “dead in our trespasses.” Eph 2:1. And if we are spiritually dead surely that impacts our decision making. Because according to Paul everyone of us was born as a spiritual stillborn, void of true spiritual life towards God and unresponsive to the person and will of God. In order for fallen man to respond to God in love and obedience, a spiritual resurrection must occur though the supernatural working of God’s grace and power. Election is the gracious purposes of God, who regenerates, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies. “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Rom 8:30

 

If you struggle with that what do you do with so many other

portions of Scriptures that speak on God’s election?

 

For the believer our election is…..

  

By God…. “knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.” 1 Thess 1:4 

By Christ…. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…” John 15:16 

In Christ… “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love.” Eph 1:4

Personal…. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:44

Its according to the purpose of God, “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls.” Romas 9:11

Eternal & Sovereign…. “For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” Rom 9:15-16

For the glory of God…. “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” Eph 1:6

Working of all things for good…. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” 

Rom8:28-30

They read and hear passages like this and come to the conclusion that will defeat the doctrine of election. “All who come to Me the Father will give to Me.” John 6:40. But they forget the verse before it, which says, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” John 6:39. Jesus was teaching and affirming God’s redeeming work, “The one whom the Father has given to Me will come to Me…everyone of them will respond.” Why? The gospel call of God is effectual and He will save those whose eyes have been enlightened to see the truth of God, in the person of Jesus Christ. This truth that Jesus is clearly teaching is the foundation of the gospel and the workings that God does to save sinners like you, and like me. 

Here is problem for those who are lost, in their corrupt nature; they don’t see the work of God in redemption, because they are blinded by their love for sin. This is the same reason why people are unable to come to Christ on their own. That was already established in John’s gospel in the first chapter. “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:9-1 

They are unable because they love darkness rather than light, and without the Spirit’s work we would continue in sin. “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” John 3:19-20 

Paul said, “no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Rom 3:11-18

Apart from God drawing us, none of

us would ever be saved!

The effectual call of God is only for believers, and Jesus intercedes actively for none but those that come unto God by Him. Hense the fact, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world.” It is this statement in reference to His disciples, but also applies to the Christian today. What Jesus is saying here is that, “He interceded for the believer’s safety, He daily watches over, and thinks about them constantly, and provides for them with unfailing care, by whose eye never slumbers and never sleeps.” This true as the Hebrew writer wrote, “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Heb 7:25

“Uttermost” This does not mean simply “forever” but that he has power to save them so that their salvation shall be “complete” He is able to save to the uttermost; "to the utmost perfection" This indicates that He does not abandon the work midway; He does not begin a work which He is unable to finish. Many in the church today believe that they can lose or remove ourselves from their salvation; and if you can lose your salvation, it was never real to be begin with. Your salvation is not dependant on you because if that is true your dead spiritual state is stronger than God’s effectual call upon your life to raise you from the dead. 

Pelagius died in 418 AD, who was an adversary to the doctrines of grace, he was known for promoting a system of doctrines which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin, as he wrote, “all men come into being in the exact condition as Adam was before the fall. Man had not been entirely corrupted by Adam’s fall and that he could, by his own free will, do works that pleased God, and thus be saved. This led Pelagius to deny the doctrines of original sin and predestination, and to deny the need for special grace to be saved. Essentially, he believed that man is basically good and moral and that even pagans can enter heaven through their virtuous moral actions. Tim Challies wrote this in response to that statement. “The Bible teaches that we were created to be good, but because of Adam’s fall we are all born in a state of total depravity—spiritually dead in our sin—and that we are wholly dependent upon God’s supernatural grace for salvation and new life. Our wills are not free to do what is righteous or even to desire to do what is righteous. We need to be born again by God before we can begin to do even the least deed that is pleasing to God.”

What we learn and see from this pray by our Lord is that…. He can aid us as long as we need anything done for our salvation; He can save all who will entrust their salvation to His hands. We know this true by what Paul wrote to the church in Phillippi. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil 1:6. It is in God alone. It is not in man in any sense. No reliance is to be placed upon man in keeping himself. Why? Man is too weak; too changeable; too ready to be led astray; too much disposed to yield to temptation. The reliance, therefore, is on God; and the evidence that the renewed man will be kept is this, God began the work of grace in you. The believer will never perish because He will never cease praying for them, and Jesus’ prayers must prevail. The only reason the disciple could stand, and we can stand daily, not because of our own strength and goodness, but because Jesus lives to make intersession for them and us. When Judas fell to never rise again, is a realization to when Peter fell.

Peter’s falling lead to genuine repentance and was restored, the reason of the difference lay under the words of Christ to Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not.” Luke 22:32. Its here that Jesus was restrictive in this portion of His prayer, He did not pray for everybody in the world generally. Rather, He prayed for specifically on behalf of those whom the Father has given to Him out of this world. (v1a) 

This is where the true servant of Christ ought to lean back

his soul on the truth before us and take comfort in it.

There is no condition of man that safer than the one before us, as those who are given to Christ. The disciples had come to see Him as the Messiah, sent from God, and they put their faith in Him. (v6-v8) The same is true from what God does with us. If I am in Christ, it is because God took me out of the world and gave me to Christ, who manifested His word to me, with the result that the gospel is now in my heart.

As the puritan Richard Hooker wrote, “No man’s condition so safe as ours.”

 

God’s faithfulness in calling sinners to Himself

is consistent with Holy Scripture.

 

This doctrine is not just for scholars to uncover, but for God’s children to study and find rest, comfort, and eternal hope in the saving and keeping work of God. 

The Bible makes this point repeatedly. In the act of Creation, God made precisely what He wanted to create in the way He wanted to create it. Ever since Creation, God has sovereignly prescribed or permitted everything in human history. Why? In order that He might accomplish the redemptive plan that He previously had designed. (Isa. 25:1; 46:10; 55:11)

That is a comforting truth considered the polarized

climate with live in right now!

Think about it! God calls

Gen 1:31 – called Creation to be in the book of Beginnings.

Gen 6:8-9, 13-14 – called Noah & his family and sealed the door behind them.

Gen 15:13-16 – called Abraham and gave him a covenant for the future.

Exodus 3:1-10 – called Moses to lead God’s people.

Deut 7:6 – called Israel as His people.

Judges 6:11-12, 14 – called Gideon to defeat the Midianites.

Judges 13:1-24 - called Samson to defeat the Philistines.

1 Sam 3:1-11 called Samuel to be a prophet of the LORD.

1 Sam 16:1-13 – called David to be king.

Jonah 1:1-2 – called Jonah to preach repentance.

Luke 1:13-16 – called John the Baptist to pave the way for Christ.

Luke 1:26-33 – called Mary to be the mother of Christ.

John 15:16 – Jesus calling His disciples to preach the gospel.

Acts 9:15 – Paul was called to lead and build the church.

Acts 13:48 – the covenant promise opened to the Gentiles as they were appointed to eternal life.

Acts 16:12-14 – called Lydia to saving grace.

1 Tim 5:21 – called Elect angels to minister their duties accordingly.

  

God’s faithfulness in calling sinners to Himself

is consistent with Holy Scripture. And Jesus demonstrates that in His prayer.

What Jesus prays over His disciple is to be our greatest comfort in a troubled world, as we live among troubled people.

The prayer of Jesus and doctrine of election isn’t a new doctrine

to make people angry and leave churches over in the 21 century.

 

This Biblical truth was the view of William Tyndale, John Wycliffe, 

the hymn writer Isaac watts and John Newton. 

This was Paul’s view, Polycarp, Ignatius and Augustine’s view. 

This was George Whitfield view, one of the greatest evangelists who lived. 

This was the founder of modern-day mission’s Willian Carey view. 

This was the reformers view of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Hus, Knox and a great number of puritans. 

It is a basic element of Christian theology, not to frustrate but to find rest in, peace over a sinner’s life that has been found, and keep, by His grace. 

It’s been here before creation was spoked into existence, and it’s not going away. 

So, investigate it, study it, and realize that this wonderful truth produces an eternal security for those who are in Christ.

 

As one preacher said “God’s sovereign grace does not annihilate man’s will: it overcomes his unwillingness. It does not destroy his will but frees it from sin. It does not stifle or eliminate his conscience but sets it free from darkness. Grace regenerates and re-creates man in his entirety, and in renewing him, causes him to love and consecrate himself to God freely.

The Word of God will never return void as we are sitting here today, and tomorrow, waiting eternity.

God’s just and righteous character does not allow the

possibility of His failing in any of His promises.

 

You, and I, don’t know who is saved, and who is lost, we only know, where you, as an individual, reside in light of His grace, in accordance with His Word. What we do know is that God does know, who are His, and those who are not. What are we to do? Love and pray for lost sinners, and plead with them to come and rest in God’s grace through redemption in His Son. To love sinners through the lenses as Christ did, as we proclaim the gospel to lost people, and watch the gospel effectually call sinners to perfection. As Paul wrote, “But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 2 Tim 2:19. This prayer reveals that nothing can separate our faith in Him though the divine work that the Lord does by His power.

Nothing can separate us from His love, as He

saturates His prayers over His children.