But we're at the end of this section in the upper room after the end of chapter 17. Jesus goes out to the Mount of Olives and this is where he's going to be betrayed. So the last thing that happens in this upper room is is what we call the high priestly prayer. I want to look at the immediate context of this section. We're going to look at verses 20 to 26 here in just a few minutes. But in the immediate context of this section, chapter 17, Jesus is preparing to fulfill the day of atonement. That's going to come tomorrow, if you will. It's going to come in the crucifixion. That's going to be the work of the final great high priest. And as he anticipates the fulfilling of the Day of Atonement, he prays before that Day of Atonement. And he prays for himself in verses 1 to 5 of chapter 17. He prays for his disciples in verses 6 through 19, those immediately around him. And he makes two general requests regarding those disciples. One is for preservation and the other for sanctification. Preserve them, sanctify them. And then what we're going to look at in just a few minutes, verses 20 to 26, Jesus prays for all believers. And I was just kind of mulling over this prayer earlier, and it occurred to me, and I kind of referenced it in our opening prayer this morning, that Oftentimes, we pray just as Jesus does, right? Think about your prayer times, not your moments where you're driving in the car and something comes to mind and you pray about it, not that. But when you sit down for 10, 15 minutes, or however long, for a time of prayer, don't you find yourself going through like this same a series of concentric circles. You pray for yourself, your needs, whatever those might be, and then you expand that circle to pray for those around you, your immediate loved ones, and so forth, maybe in your church family. And then the circle expands, maybe to a broader circle of individuals. Anyway, Jesus does that, and in verses 20 to 26, he prays for all believers. That's the immediate context. In a broader context, this is the final event in the upper room, the events from the Passover meal that Jesus shares with his disciples until the time of the betrayal itself. So it covers a matter of a few hours, if you will, on this evening. And in those events, it starts with Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Then he reveals to the disciples that he's going to be betrayed, that they're going to flee from him, Peter's going to deny him, and so forth. In chapter 13, Jesus delivers the new commandment that you love one another, he says. In chapter 14, he reveals that he is going to depart He is going to depart from this world, but the Spirit is going to come. And in chapter 15, he explains the necessity of abiding in him and doing so in spite of, or maybe because of, in light of the world's hostility and the world's rejection. In chapter 16, he promises that the Spirit is going to come and help them, and he is going to be with them. At the end of chapter 16, he promises joy and peace in his absence, And then in chapter 17 is this high priestly prayer. So you have the immediate context, then the broader context, and then finally, I want us to think about this in the context of the Gospel of John, in the Gospel of John. And I gave you this very, very basic rudimentary outline of the Gospel of John. It begins with an epilogue in chapter 1, verses 1 to 18. I'm sorry, it begins with a prologue in chapter 1, and then it ends with an epilogue, chapter 21. In the intervening chapters, the end of chapter 1 through chapter 20, you have two volumes, if you will. We call it two volumes. One is the Book of Signs. Volume 1 is the Book of Signs, chapters 1 through 12, and then chapters 13 through 20, the Book of Glory. Now, I want you to think about that Book of Glory for a minute, because in that Book of Glory, Chapters 13 to 20, you have the upper room discourse. And in that upper room discourse in chapter 13, Jesus very subtly displays his glory. I mean, it's not blazing, it's not flagrant, but his glory is there. And how does he show his glory? He shows his glory in his humility. And in chapters 14 through 16, Jesus prepares for his coming glory. He's preparing his disciples for his coming glory. And then in chapter 17, Jesus prays for his glory at the beginning of the chapter. Remember, he says, Jesus prays that the Father would glorify the Son. So in this book of glory, you have the uproom discourse. Then in chapters 18 and 19, you can look at those two chapters as the prelude to the answer to Jesus' prayer, the prelude to glory. through the betrayal, the arrest, the, quote, trial, and turning over to the crucifixion. And then in chapter 20, Jesus is raised to glory. You have the account of the resurrection. All right, so that's where the upper room discourse fits within the Gospel of John. And in that big context, you can see where these last few verses of that great high priestly prayer fits in the Gospel of John as well. So in this prayer, verses 1 to 5, Jesus prays for himself. And his request, you remember, was, Father, glorify your son. Then in verses 6 through 19, Jesus prays for his disciples. We looked at this last Lord's Day. And we pointed out that the disciples, those whom Jesus is praying for, are the Father's gift to the Son. You have this repeated statement that Jesus makes that these are those that you have given to me. And we talked about that plan from eternity past. where the Father has given to the Son those whom he has chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world, and so forth. These disciples, we pointed out, were in the chains of grace. And just review these two chains, because one of them is going to come up again in just a few minutes. The chain of glory and the chain of the word. Look at that chain of glory again. I think I have this written out for you on your handout. belongs to the Father, glory is given to the Son, glory is given by the Son to the apostles. All this is referred to here in Jesus' prayer for his disciples. Glory is given by the Son to the apostles, and glory is seen through the apostles' ministry by all of the disciples. All right, so this chain of glory from the father to the son, from the son to the apostles, from the apostles to all of his disciples, it's a chain of glory. And this glory happens, this glory is seen through the apostles' ministry by all the disciples because of the word. It was the chain of the Word. The Word belongs to the Father. The Word was given to the Son. The Word was given by the Son to the apostles. Then the Word was given through the apostles to all the disciples. So you have in front of you this morning, either on an electronic device or on a printed page, you have God's Word. How is it that you have God's Word in front of you in 2024, almost 2,000 years after the last words of the Scriptures were written down? How is it that you have it? Because God gave the Word to the Son, the Son gave the Word to the Apostles, the Apostles wrote down the Word, gave the Word to you and to me. And we have the Word through that chain. All right, so he prays for his disciples, and the focus of his prayer is for these two things. In verses 11 through 16, he prays for preservation, for the preservation of their unity and the preservation of their joy. And then in verses 17 through 19, he prays for their sanctification. So Jesus prays for his disciples. Now, verses 20 to 26, let's read these verses together and then look at what Jesus is praying for here. Jesus says, I do not pray for these alone, that is the disciples right there in front of him, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. There's that chain of the word. that they may all be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me. And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them." All right, so Jesus prays for all believers here in this final section of his prayer. Notice the object of his prayer in verse 20. He says, I do not pray for these alone, for these alone. This prayer that he is offering for all believers is for those who are loved with a comparable affection. He loves them. Remember, he says, I don't pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. These alone, who are these? Who's he talking about when he says, I do not pray for these alone? He's talking about the 12, well, the 11, the disciples that are right there in that context of the upper room. And they are the ones who are loved uniquely by the Father, that have been given graciously to the Son. And then Jesus says, I don't pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe. So they are loved with a comparable affection. Just as the 11 were given by the Father to the Son, so also are the ones who are the object of this section of his prayer. But they are still, at this point, unconverted. Because he says, I pray for these who will believe. So at the time that Jesus is offering this prayer, they don't believe. They're not yet converted. Jesus is praying for you and for me well into the future, thousands of years, a couple thousand years into the future. He's praying for those who will come to faith. They're yet unconverted, but they will come to faith. How do you know? Because Jesus says they will believe. There are those who he can confidently say will believe. How does he know? How can he confidently say that there are some who will believe? Well, because just as the father gave these 11 to the son, the father has given a whole host more to the son who have not yet come to faith in Christ. But they will, and he knows they will. And they will come to that faith in Christ because they will believe and receive the word of the apostles, the apostolic word. You see this at the end of the verse. For those who will believe in me through their word, through their word. Now, here's an important thing to understand. There is no other means. to come to faith in Christ other than through the apostolic word. Now, how do we know that? Because of what Paul writes in Romans chapter 10. Remember this? Romans 10, verses 14 and 15, Paul writes, he says, how then shall they call on him? Okay, let me back up a little. In verse 13, it says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever does, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But, he then asks, how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Now, Paul is writing this a couple of decades after Jesus prays this prayer. But when he prays this prayer, remember in that prayer, Jesus said to the Father, just as you have sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world, the apostles. And I am sending them into the world with the word that you've given to me, which I have given to them. So from the very start, and when you get to the end of the book of Matthew, which we'll eventually get to in that series, what's the last thing Jesus tells his disciples to do? Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all the things that I've given you to do. You are to pass on the word. And so Paul says, how shall they believe in Him in whom they have heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? That sending of the apostles in John 17 is repeated in every generation. where God in his grace, Christ in his gifts to the church, sends forth his disciples with the word. And then verse 17, Paul summarizes it all by saying, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So the objects of his prayer are those who, at the moment that Jesus is praying, have not yet come to faith in Jesus Christ, but they are just as much loved by the Father as the 11 are loved by the Father, who will, they will come to faith, and they will come to faith through the preaching of the apostolic word. All right, now let's notice the request that Jesus makes here of all of his believers, all the believers who are yet to come. Verses 21 to 23, he prays for unity. He prays for unity. Notice he says, I'm praying for these that they all may be one. Now, clearly, Jesus' prayer here for unity is far bigger than, larger than, unity within a local church. It doesn't mean he doesn't want unity in the local church. He certainly does, and you get that from the epistles. But what Jesus is praying here, notice, is a far broader unity. It is a global and eternal unity. Because remember, he's praying for those who do not yet believe, but will believe. So Jesus is praying down into the future for however many centuries. It's already been about 20 of them, and who knows how many more till Jesus returns. He's looking off into the future, praying for all who will come to faith in Jesus Christ through all of that time. And he's praying that all, all will be one. So all will be one. And this unity that Jesus is praying for here, notice, is a unity that is established. The pattern for that unity is established by the Trinity, by the Trinity. In verse 21, he says that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. You in me and I in you. Sinclair Ferguson explains this, and he says that just as the Father and Son live together in the fellowship of the Spirit, there's the Trinity. The Father and the Son are united. They live together in the fellowship of the Spirit. So, since every believer in Christ, every true convert, everyone who's truly converted, is indwelt by that same Spirit, Our fellowship begins to mirror theirs, Ferguson says. So let me say that again. Just as the Father and Son live together in the fellowship of the Spirit, so, since every believer is indwelt by that same Spirit, our fellowship, our unity, begins to mirror theirs. So that unity of the Trinity serves as a pattern for the unity that Jesus is praying for for all the believers to come. That's the pattern. The source of that unity, notice, is Jesus. Jesus. He is the source of that unity. Verse 22. He says, and the glory which you gave me I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me that they may be made perfect in one, in unity, all right? Jesus is the source of unity. How so, all right? Jesus imparts the glue of that unity. And I put that in quotation marks, figuratively speaking here, right? Jesus imparts the glue. What is that glue? Look at verse 22. What is the glue of the unity? Anybody got it? Okay, that's the objective, that they may be one, but what is it that Jesus does, that Jesus provides, that enables that unity? What is it? Love, glory. Yeah, look at the verse again. Jesus says, the glory which you gave me, here's that chain again, right? The glory that you gave me, I have given to them that they may be one. So that glory that the Father gives to the Son, the Son gives to those who come to faith in Christ, to the believers, And that glory is the glue that holds all believers together. Now, question, what is that glory? Now, we talked about that a couple of weeks ago when Jesus was praying for himself. And let me just remind you what we concluded, how we came to conclusion on that. We said that the glory that Jesus was talking about here Notice, let's go back to that earlier request of Jesus, back in verse 1. Jesus prays to the Father, says, glorify your son that your son may glorify you. As you've given him authority over all flesh, he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is life eternal. that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth. I've finished the work that you gave me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was." Now, what is Jesus praying for here in this glory that he's asking to be re-imparted to him anew and afresh? We mentioned in conclusion of all that that the glory he's speaking of is the character and the power of God in Jesus's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, and the subsequent saving of sinners through that work. Now, that's a mouthful. But here's the glory. that serves as a glue that unifies every true believer in Christ. It is the fact that God, in his power and character, has sent Jesus to die on the cross, be buried in a tomb, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, so that sinners could be justified. and sinners could be sanctified and ultimately glorified. That saving work of God the Son is the glory that the Father has given to the Son and the Son has given to those who are truly converted. And it is that glory that serves as the glue that holds us together. So here's the thing. I have a good friend of mine, he sends me memes all the time. He's a pastor in Ohio, I've told you about him before. He was a high school kid in the first youth group in my first ministry in a Baptist church in South Carolina. And he went on, graduated from high school, went on to Bob Jones, ended up getting a doctorate in Old Testament, and became a pastor, went into the ministry. But he's a Presbyterian. A Presbyterian. And he actually believes in and practices infant baptism. I totally disagree with him on that. He does not practice infant baptism as the Catholics do, which is a myth. means of their salvation. No, not at all. But anyway, I mean, the Presbyterianism has a view on that. It's different from what we have in all the rest of this. OK, but here's the thing. He pastors a Presbyterian church. He's my brother in Christ. And in that church, the people that make up that church, they belong to a Bible-believing church. They are converted people. They're not apostates because they're in a Presbyterian church. Now, be careful here. There are Presbyterians. There are apostates. I'm not talking about them. This is an orthodox, biblically sound Presbyterian church. And the church is filled with believers in Christ. And they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh, here, this will throw us for a loop. There are believers in charismatic churches. They truly are Christian. They've come to faith in Jesus Christ. I think they're totally wrong when it comes to their understanding of the gifts of the Spirit. I think there are some in those churches that are not converted, but that's not the point. The point is that there are some who are. And what I'm getting at is this. The big umbrella of the church, universal, there are a lot of differences between believers under that umbrella. We disagree on various things, modes of baptism, understanding of the doctrines of grace, and a whole bunch of other things we can disagree on. But here's the deal. If God in His grace has brought them to faith in Jesus Christ, and they have come in repentance to Christ, before Christ, and put their faith and trust in Christ, and have called upon Him to save them, then they are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are one. And what is the glue that holds us together? It's not our view on It's not our view on the modes of baptism. It's not our view on who's allowed to take communion. It's not our view on da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. The glue that holds us together is the glory of Christ, and that is the glory of redemption that is in Christ Jesus. All right? So Jesus imparts the glue. And then we can take this a step further to point out in verse 23 that Jesus imparts himself. And there we can even be even more astounded at that glue. The glory is not simply the gospel. The glory is the gospel of Christ. He imparts not only. theological truths, if you will, that we have come to accept, but he imparts himself in verse 23. He says, I in them, I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. So the unity that Jesus is talking about here is a unity of the gospel and a unity of Christ, Christ within those who are His. Now, remember, when Jesus says, I in them, He's talking about the Holy Spirit. Go back a few pages in your Bible to chapter 14. And remember, verses 16 through 18, Jesus says, I will pray the Father And he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever, the spirit of truth. So Jesus says, I'm gonna send you the spirit. Father's gonna send you the spirit. The world can't receive him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and he, the Holy Spirit, will be in you. And then he says this, I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. I will come to you." And in verse 20, Jesus says, at that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. So there's this great mysterious reality of the Christian life where Christ dwells within everyone who is truly his own. and he dwells within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the source of our unity. He imparts the glue. He imparts himself. Now, what is the purpose for that unity? We see it at the end of verse 21. that they all may be one as you and our Father are in me and I in you, that in order that, here's the purpose, they may also be one in us, that in order that the world may believe that you sent me. And see this also at the end of verse 23. He says, I and them, you and me, that they may be made perfect or complete in one in unity, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. So what is the purpose for unity? It's witness. Witness. Again, Sinclair Ferguson helps us out here. He says, our burden, our Lord's burden, is that his church will be his chief evangelistic agency, and that the fellowship that Christians have with each other will make a powerful evangelistic impact. It is in the fellowship of the church family that non-Christians will most powerfully encounter the kingdom of God and the new creation. Paul elaborates on this a little bit in 1 Corinthians 14 when he talks about, in the context of the very spiritual gifts and those apostolic gifts of speaking in tongues and all the rest of that stuff, And Paul, in the course of that, he says, it does absolutely no good if an unbeliever comes into your fellowship and a whole bunch of you start gibberish, just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, just speaking in tongues. And there's nobody to interpret that. And you just do it as a display of your piety or something like that. There's absolutely no benefit whatsoever to the unbeliever. But if the unbeliever comes into your fellowship and that unbeliever hears the words of prophecy, that is the words of preaching of the word, then, and they see your worship, then they will have to say, God is in the midst of these people. So witness is the purpose of that unity. And by the way, notice this. In Acts 2, we're not gonna turn there, but remember in Acts chapter 2, when Paul preached on the day of Pentecost, thousands of people were saved. At the end of Acts 2, it says that they who received the word They were baptized, and they were added to the church. The point is that coming to Christ and becoming a part of a local church family are two sides of the same coin. From the very outset, even in this prayer, Jesus is not anticipating. that people are going to come to Christ to be saved and be Lone Ranger Christians and be separated apart from the local church. No. Why? Because there's no witness in that. There's no witness in that. The witness of the church is that There is the unity of the body, the unity of God's people. All right, so Jesus prays for unity. And then secondly, he prays in verse 24 for eternity, for eternity. Notice that this request is Christ-centered. Jesus says, Father, I desire, it is my will that they whom you gave me may be with me. And notice that this desire of Christ is limited, the desire is limited to those who are his gift from the Father. I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me. Now who is he talking about here? He's talking about the 11? Because remember, earlier in his prayer, he speaks over and over again about these whom you've given to me. He's talking about the 11, as well as those who will believe through the word of the 11. So the request is Christ-centered. Secondly, notice that the destination is Christ-centered. I'm praying that they will be with me. Thirdly, notice that the purpose is Christ-centered. Why does Christ want us to be with him? So that they may behold my glory which you have given to me. Now here, he's expanding upon this notion or this idea of the glory. Earlier, the glory was the gospel in Christ. And the effect of that gospel on saving sinners and redeeming sinners, there is great glory in that. But the ultimate expression of that glory is that which will be seen where Christ is, when we will all be together with him. The purpose is Christ-centered. And by the way, remember 1 John 3, verses 1 and 2, there is a residual. eternal effect from beholding the glory of Christ in heaven. It doesn't yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when we see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Jesus prays, I want them to be with me, that they may behold me in my glory. Why? That we may be glorified. Basically, this is what he's praying for, our glorification. The purpose is Christ-centered. And then fourthly, the fulfillment is Christ-centered. The fulfillment is Christ-centered. Why does he want this? The end of verse 24, I want them to behold my glory which you have given me for you loved me before the foundation of the world. All right, you're going to have to follow along this. Okay, listen carefully. Since the Father has eternally loved the Son, and since those given to the Son were given before the foundation of the world. Remember that? Ephesians 1 verse 3. Since the Father has eternally loved the Son, and since those given to the Son were given before the foundation of the world, and in the mind of God, therefore, were in Him, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. And thirdly, since the kingdom has been prepared for them from before the foundation of the world, it's what Matthew 25, 34 says, then Christ's desire will certainly be fulfilled. Let me walk through that again, that sequence again. Since the Father has eternally loved the Son, this is what Jesus says, you loved me before the foundation of the world, and since those given to the Son were given before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1 verse 3, and in the mind of God were already in Christ Jesus, And since the kingdom was prepared for them from before the foundation of the world, Matthew 25, 34, since all of this was done, if you will, in the mind of God, in the plan of God, in the working of God, before the foundation of the world, then this prayer request of Christ will certainly be fulfilled. certainly be fulfilled. All right, I don't have time to elaborate on the basis for this prayer, but let me just say, point these two things out. The basis for the prayer is the relationship that Christ has with the Father, and secondly, the powerfully effective work of the Son. Do I have subpoints there? Okay, the powerfully effective work of the Son. What is that? The Son has declared what He has known first part of verse 26, and he has created faith in those who hear, verse 25, and thereby transforms the lives of those who know. So because of all of that, Jesus can pray this prayer. Sorry, some profound insights into our Savior's person and work even as he prays. Let's pray. Father, thank you for our Savior, our great high priest, and his praying for us. And we thank you for the joy of knowing that what he prays for will certainly be fulfilled. Bless all this to our hearts, we pray today. In Jesus' name, amen.