HolyGhost Living

John 17 part 3 Jesus Prays for all Believers.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

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: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

24 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: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

26 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.

THIS TOTAL PRAYER IN ITS ENTIRETY IS A LITTLE OVER 650 WORDS AND TAKES ABOUT 3.5 TO 4 MINS TO READ OUT LOUD.

As  Jesus prayed this prayer, I can feel that it may have taken him at least 6 mins to speak these words with pauses of thought and purpose of mind.

Prayer is a conversation with God himself. With pauses that the one praying expects an answer.

These last 6 verses are profound and powerful in their meaning  for all believers.

 Verse 20 is so powerful I  could stay here all night if the Spirit was willing.

20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; Not for these alone, but for them which shall believe from there preaching of me.

Jesus in his eternity looked beyond the 12 beyond the 120, but to the millions and millions  that would believe.  He was praying for you that sits here tonight, he prayed  for me in my sin many years ago. Every one that was going to believe in any time  he prayed.

If you can not get anything else remember that Christ prayed for you in this one verse.

**In 21,22 and 23 he prays that all believers be one as he and the father are one.

Both “these” (the Apostles) and “them also which shall believe on Me through their word” (the whole body of believers in all times and places). He expresses in this grand thought of the unity of the whole Church the fulness of the purpose of His prayer.

The insertion of “art,” which, as the italics show, is not in the original text, weakens the sense.

 A better translation, therefore, is, That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; and the meaning is that the union of the Church may be of the same essential nature as that between the Father and the Son.

Albert Barnes in his commentary said this” All may be one – May be united as brethren. Christians are all redeemed by the same blood, and are going to the same heaven. They have the same wants, the same enemies, the same joys. Though they are divided into different denominations, yet they will meet at last in the same homes of glory. Hence, they should feel that they belong to the same family, and are children of the same God and Father. There are no ties so tender as those which bind us in the gospel. There is no friendship so pure and enduring as that which results from having the same attachment to the Lord Jesus.”

We must look beyond the denominations and look to Jesus. Lead to Christ first then Christ will lead them to Glory.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.

Gavest] Better, hast given . The meaning of this gift of ‘glory’ seems evident from John 17:24; the glory of the ascended and glorified Christ in which believers are ‘joint-heirs’ with Him( Romans 8:17 (HCSB)and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing provided that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him). Looking forward with confidence to the issue of the conflict, Christ speaks of this glory as already given back to him (John 17:5) and shared with His followers and believers.

23. I in them, and thou in me] And therefore, ‘Thou in them and they in Thee.’

[made perfect in one] Literally, perfected into one; i.e. completed and made one. In the unity the completeness consists.

When we shed the world and except Christ in his totality then the unity of the trinity becomes the unity of life. THAT GOD THE FATHER, THROUGH GOD THE HOLY GHOST DISPLAYING HIS SON JESUS CHRIST THROUGH A HUMAN VESSEL HIS CHURCH .  we can only have true unity with God and Christ when we have true unity with the Holy Ghost. 

This World sometimes over whelms as  I stand here today, I feel the toils of the years.

In 1998  I was 40 years Old  my ministry seems to be on the climb. I was the assistant Pastor at a church running 250 on Sunday next in line to be pastor. I had no trouble in driving hours at a time to speak and hold revivals. I was on the Church of God Approved  Evangelist list in over 5 States  everything seemed to be going up and up. But in just a few years I went from  what I thought was bliss and blessings to the death of my wife and being almost a million dollars in debt.

Today I look back to those days and wonder how I traveled and ministered, and how easy it was.  As I was putting together my notes God reminded me 2000 years ago Christ prayed for me.

Prayer is the key.

In Ezekiel chapter 36 he speaks of the Restoration of Israel’s Mountains  and of the people of Israel.

In Ezekiel 36 verse 24 “For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.  26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;  then down in verse 36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken and I will do it.

This is so the church of today. You think God willed it then that is all that is needed. Christ prayed it that is all that is needed.  I have heard the messages I have read the scripture,  I have seen Gods power God says” For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD’s glory, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14. Why has this not happened the key is prayer look at Ezekiel 36 verse 37 “Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. 38 Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

also, I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them:

Ask me God says.

You can not do Gods will with out God: he will not do his will without you.

We do not have an option about this thing called prayer .

God says I have made all these promises , but in spite I have yet for you to ask.

The flesh soon forgets when God works without asking.

 Albert Einstein said, “Coincidences are God’s way of remaining anonymous”. When God is Anonymous the world is so quick to forget.

When we come to a place of prayer as Christ did, our example of life. We are saying God Is, Christ is. My faith is never tested like it is tested when I pray.  Every time I lay hands on the sick or kneel in prayer every demon in range wants to know what I am going to say.

Here is the order that must prevail for the church and the believer to be unified with god and Christ.

Purity. The Cleansing. The banishing of the money changer and the thieves .

Jesus said my house shall be a house of prayer. When a sinner comes to God thru Christ he is cleaned and purified.

Next is prayer then power then praise.

God is not going to release his power until the order is right.

God Says” I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, I will heal your land, I will visit you.

Call on me and I will answer.

I have to move on.

Verse 24  that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

My glory – My honor and dignity when exalted to the right hand of God. The word “behold” implies more than simply seeing; it means also to participate, to enjoy.

Thou lovedst me … – This is another of the numerous passages which prove that the Lord Jesus existed before the creation of the world. It is not possible to explain it on any other way but in its purity of form.

Verse 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

26 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.

Remember in these last 6 verses  this prayer reaches out to all generations of believers to the end. Also  note that it shows that Jesus did not anticipate a speedy end of the history of the world or the Church; and also, that it breathes but one desire, that for the Church’s unity, as though He saw what its greatest peril would be.

IN MacLaren Expositions Of Holy Scripture. Alexander Maclaren says

 {John 17:25 – John 17:26} is not petition but vow, and, to our ears, a promise. The contrast of the world and believers appears for the last time. What made the world a ‘world’ was its not knowing God; what made believers isolated in, and having an errand to, the world, was that they ‘knew’ {not merely ‘believed,’ but knew by experience} that Jesus had been sent from God to make known His name. All our knowledge of God comes through Him; it is for us to recognize His divine mission, and then He will unveil, more and more, with blessed continuity of increasing knowledge, the Name, and with growing knowledge of it growing measures of God’s love will be in us, and Jesus Himself will ‘dwell in our hearts by faith’ more completely and more blessedly through an eternity of wider knowledge and more fervent love.

As I close on this stage of john 17, prayer and fasting are our ultimate weapon.

Pastor Bert Clendenin Said this and it is so powerful.

Everything that has life demands food. Without food it begins to die. When you fast “the old man, the worldly man begins to weaken and if in the same time you spend much time in prayer  you strengthen the new man. As the new man gains ascendancy over the old and begins to assert itself , God can direct the new man to his will.”