FATHER, THE WORLD HAS NOT KNOWN YOU
JOHN 17:25-26
Introduction:
The Lord is concluding His prayer to the Father on behalf of His disciples. He declares the UNBELIEF OF THE WORLD, but note that His disciples know the Father for He has revealed the Father to them, v.26, “And I have declared unto them thy name.”
There is much to see in these verses and we will just touch on a few things here.
I. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD
A. The Lord has DECLARED Himself, Isaiah 45:21, “Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time ? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD ? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.”
1. A just God, Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
2. He will NOT sin, Zephaniah 3:5, “The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.”
B. He is the ONLY SAVIOR, Isaiah 43:3, 11, “For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. 11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
1. There is NO OTHER NAME among men that will save, Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
2. Jesus is the GREAT GOD and SAVIOR, Titus 2:13-14, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
II. GOD REVEALED HIMSELF THROUGH PREACHING
A. What men consider FOOLISHNESS, 1 Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
1. Foolishness to the LOST, 1 Corinthians 1:23, “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;”
2. It is the POWER of God to salvation for the believer, Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
B. The BRILLIANCE of man CANNOT APPRECIATE the plan of God, Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
1. God’s ways are BEYOND man’s ways, Romans 11:33-34, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his counsellor?”
2. God’s THOUGHTS are BEYOND man’s thoughts, Psalm 40:5, “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”
III. THOSE THAT HAVE RECEIVED THE TESTIMONY OF THE SAVIOR
A. Jesus REMINDS the Father of those who have believed, v. 25b, “and these have known that thou hast sent me.”
1. THESE are the ones Jesus was PRAYING FOR, John 17:9, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.”
2. He was praying for…
a. Their PROTECTION, John 17:11, 15, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”
b. Their UNITY in the Lord, John 17:21, “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.”
B. The Lord’s final thought in this chapter was on the NEED that God’s love be in them, v. 26; John 15:9, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”
1. GROUNDED in love, Ephesians 3:17, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.”
a. BUILT on the foundation of Christ, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
b. FIRM in the LOVE of Christ, Matthew 7:24-25, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock : 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”
2. We are COMPLETE in Jesus, Colossians 2:10, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”
CONCLUSION:
Jesus finishes His prayer asking that the love that He and the Father have might be in His disciples; that they might realize that they are COMPLETE IN HIM and LACK NOTHING TO PLEASE THE FATHER.