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John 17:1-8 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

As Jesus prepared to go to Calvary the Bible tells us that He looked up to Heaven and prayed. He knew that His Church would be facing great stresses, that the Church that He was dying for would be filled with fallible and broken creatures that were subject to sin. Jesus knew that there would be an epic battle between the Church that He bled and died for, and the false church of Humanism.

That battle has never stopped.

Several years ago a sitting President made the remark that “America is no longer a Christian nation”, and fundamentalist pulpits throughout this great nation rose up and in indignation castigated this man. Yet truthfully America has never been a Christian nation. It was founded by Christians called Pilgrims who sought religious freedom in this “New World”. The foundation of our nation was indeed Christian. Yet from the beginning there has been a struggle between the light and the darkness, with often the established (little “c”) church on the wrong side.

A Christian nation – that is, a nation led by Christ – looks like this according to the Bible:

Isaiah 11:1-10 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

What does a “Christian” or a “Christ led” nation look like? The Leadership of the nation will have:

“(vvs 2) the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD”..

Do we see that today? Does our White House or our Congress reflect the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might in the fear of the Lord? No it doesn’t. Does peace reign in our land. Can we say that this is a land where:

“(vvs 5) … righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them”

Can a “little child lead them” in this land? I can’t even leave my door unlocked during the day at my house. Just last week someone broke down and left their car in our parking lot and it was stolen from our Church parking lot about 10:45 at night. The cameras picked up a fuzzy image of the theft but no details, by the way. No, we do not live in a safe and godly country.

Further let me add that as we fought for freedom in our country our founding fathers endorsed chattel slavery and theft of land from established native American peoples. The Cherokee and the Apache had developed states within these lands, states that they sought to protect as we took land that was not ours. No one likes to talk about it, but this is the truth.

Jesus knew that His Church alone would be a nation unto itself, a Kingdom of righteousness on a lost planet. One day Jesus is going to return and do as the Scripture says.

“(vvs 7) And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

Peace will be on the earth, and killing shall cease. Why? Because THE EARTH SHALL BE FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD. The Word of God will be cherish, not mocked. It will be lived. We will in those days do what God’s Word says to do.

Eternal Life Is Based On Knowledge Of God:
Where Is Your Knowledge Based?

Jesus prayed for His Church. He prayed:

John 17:1-2 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Jesus prayed that His Church – His people saved by faith – would understand that our primary calling is to glorify God. We glorify Jesus, lifting Him up, praising Him because He is the Source of Eternal Life. What is Eternal Life?

Eternal Life Is To Be Possessed By Jesus!

Jesus prayed:

that he (Jesus) should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him.

When you are saved by faith in Christ you become the personal possession of Jesus Christ. He paid for you. He shed His Blood for you. He suffered for you. He died for you. He rose again for you. You belong to Jesus. The Church belongs to Jesus. The Apostle Paul called it being a bond servant. He taught:

1 Corinthians 7:22-24 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. 23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

We serve a Living Savior – no Christian who is indeed a Christian belongs to himself or herself – we are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23), INDWELT by God’s Spirit, CHILDREN of the Most High God. We live to praise Him, to glorify Him in our lives, to lift Him up for all to see, to live surrendered lives for Him. We no longer serve sin:

Romans 6:17-18 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Dear Christian, you are no longer a part of this world, but are of God’s Kingdom. We live as Children of God. Jesus prayed:

John 17:3 And THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, that THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Eternal Life is all about knowing God – and knowing what God wants. When we know God and do what He says then life is blessed. The unbeliever cannot know the will of God. The unbeliever is blind to the will of God. Jesus told the unbelieving religious crowd called the Pharisees:

John 8:42-45 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

The religious Pharisees – like many different types of unbelievers today – based what they believed on FEELINGS. The Church of Christ is not to be feeling based but Word of God based. Feelings are deceptive.

A young girl under the influence of drugs believes she can fly. She steps off of the 10^th floor balcony of her apartment. She didn’t fly.

A math teacher puts 2+2 = _____ on the blackboard. She says, “Class, this is a one question test. You either pass or fail it based on your answer. Answer carefully.” The teacher leaves the class, and one student stands up and says “I feel the answer should be 5.” He convinces the majority of the class that 5 is the right answer because it feels right. Does the class pass or fail?

On January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger became a ball of fire killing all crew on board. Investigations later pinpointed the problem – the “O” Rings on the solid rocket boosters lost their elasticity because of cold temperatures that day. Five engineers told the mission control supervisor that the seals were prone to failure and recommended cancelling the flight. Leaders at NASA “felt” that the engineers were being too cautious and convinced the mission control supervisor to go ahead with the launch. Seven people died because of “feelings”.

Salvation Is Based On Christ’s Word

John 17:4-6 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

As Jesus prayed for His Church He said “I have finished the work that Thou (O Father) gavest Me to do”. What was the “work” that Jesus came to do?

Jesus Came To Prove The Validity Of God’s Word
Jesus Came To Save A People Who Cherished God’s Word

Throughout the Gospel accounts Jesus quoted the Scriptures – the Old Testament text that we have today.

• When attacked by Satan Jesus confidently quoted Deuteronomy 8:3

Matthew 4:4 … It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

• When Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the Temple he confidently quoted Psalms 93:5; Isaiah 56:7; and Jeremiah 7:11

Matthew 21:13 … It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

• When Jesus condemned the Pharisees of hypocrisy He confidently quoted Isaiah 29:13

Mark 7:6 Well hath {Isaiah} prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

• When Jesus foretold of His death He referenced the Scriptures. When Jesus spoke of His authority as Messiah, He confidently referenced the Scriptures.

Mark 9:12 … it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. (compare this with Psalm 22:1-31; Isaiah 53:1-12; Daniel 9:24-26)

John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Jesus’ ministry was all about fulfilling the Scripture, preaching the Scripture, explaining the Scripture, and living by the Scripture. If Jesus believed the Bible as God’s Word who am I to deny it?

The Church that Jesus prayed for was that little band of believers of whom Jesus said:

they have kept Thy Word

The Church is a people populated by God, saved by faith in his Word. We believe the Scripture. We do not believe popular opinion, nor what the lost world believes. We unashamedly believe God’s Word the Bible. We do the things God tells us to do because we know that only by doing His Word are we blessed. As Jesus quoted and explained Scripture He was not quoting a fairy tale. In His prayer He said:

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

That’s how salvation comes. It comes by hearing the Word of God – the Bible – then acting on that hearing. We heard of Christ Jesus, and believe He died for our sins. We believe our salvation is secure because we are …

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Without a certain grasp of the Scripture we have no hope, no promise, no eternal life, no thing. Let the world be empty. I choose to love Jesus and to cherish God’s Word. Jesus prayed:

John 17:15-17 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

What sets the Christian from the lost is that we believe as Jesus believed that God’s Word is truth. This is our standard, our mindset, our faith, our all. Join me in believing this for God’s glory!