JOHN 17!--For FFers!--By Father David DFO1120 Tenerife, 2/10/76
1. "THOSE THAT THOU GAVEST ME I HAVE KEPT, & NONE OF THEM IS LOST BUT THE SON OF PERDITION." (Jn.17:12.) Isn't that strange I should get that verse to apply to you girls with these men? "Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept." You need to read this whole 17th chapter of John, the Lord keeps talking about the ones that the Lord gave Him. "As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, & Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." (Vs.2-3.)
2. THERE WERE SOME DEEP THINGS ABOUT THAT, THEY WERE ALREADY THE LORD'S REALLY! "Thine they were, & Thou gavest them Me; & they have kept Thy Word." Isn't that beautiful? "Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee. For I have given unto them the Words which Thou gavest Me; & they have received them, & have known surely that I came out from Thee, & they have believed that Thou didst send Me." (Vs 6-8.)
3. YOU COULD APPLY THIS WHOLE CHAPTER TO YOURSELF! You really need to read it, it's beautiful. This chapter applies so beautifully to our girls & the way they minister, just like Jesus did. "I pray for them: I pray not for the World, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, & Thine are Mine; & I am glorified in them." (Vs.9-10.)
4. ISN'T THAT BEAUTIFUL THAT THE LORD WOULD GIVE ME THIS PASSAGE TO READ FOR YOU GIRLS! "And now I am no more in the World, but these are in the World & 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." (Vs.11.) Isn't that beautiful? That they may be one.
5. THAT'S REALLY OUR DREAM, JUST LIKE HIS WAS, FOR THESE FELLOWS ALL TO REALLY BECOME ONE, a real church for the Lord, a real body of believers here. You know the Lord's going to do it somehow. "While I was with them in the World, I kept them in Thy name; those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, & none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee; & these things I speak in the World, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." (Vs.16-17.) That's beautiful! I never thought about it!
6. REALLY JESUS WAS A SOUL WINNER & HE FELT ABOUT HIS DISCIPLES JUST LIKE WE FEEL ABOUT THESE BOYS, YOU KNOW? That is so stereotyped in church all about Him calling them & all, you never really realise how He really won them! He fished them, & He was just as thrilled with having them follow Him & get into His Word as we are about our new disciples!
7. HE SAID, "I HAVE GIVEN THEM THEY WORD; & the World hath hated them, because they are not of the World, even as I am not of the World. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the World, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (Vs.14-15.)
8. THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY FAVOURITE CHAPTERS, HIS LAST PRAYER FOR HIS DISCIPLES. "They are not of the World, even as I am not of the World. Sanctify them through Thy truth"--meaning literally separate them from the World--"Thy Word is truth." (Vs.16-17.) That's what really draws the line that separated them from the World & from others, when they get into the Word." As Thou hast sent Me into the World, even so have I also sent them into the World." (Vs.18.) In other words, we turn around & send them back. Just like we came & won them, we send them to win others.
9. "FOR THEIR SAKES I SANCTIFY MYSELF, THAT THEY ALSO MIGHT BE SANCTIFIED THROUGH THE TRUTH. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word." (Vs.19-20.) (Maria: That's a verse I got the other day when I was reading, it's one proof that it's not just for those disciples that everything Jesus said just applied to them, but it's for all of us!) "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, & I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." (Vs.21.)
10. THAT WAS A WONDERFUL VERSE TO GET, THAT CERTAINLY IS A GOOD PROOF. So many people say, "Oh, Jesus was talking to His disciples, that's not for us today." "That the World may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, & Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one." (Vs.22-23.)
11. WE FULFILL THE SAME ROLE AS CHRIST IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. "I in them," in other words, you in his heart, "& thou in me." It's like, "You're in My heart, Lord," He's praying, "May I be in their hearts." Isn't that beautiful!
12. THE LORD SPOKE OF HIMSELF AS BEING SO IMPORTANT, & of course He was! You take it so for granted: Of course, that He was Jesus, but in a way we're fulfilling His place now & they must love us & have us in their hearts, just like we have the Lord in our hearts! We have to win their hearts first! "I in them & Thou in Me," it's like your prayer for him, for your flock. "That they may be made perfect in one; & that the World may know that Thou hast sent Me, & hast loved them, & Thou hast loved Me." (Vs.23.)
13. THIS IS YOUR PRAYER. "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. O righteous Father, the World hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, & these have known that Thou has sent Me." (Vs.24-25.) When they really get to where they really believe God sent you, that's real faith! That's what so many have really said in a way, "God sent you into my life to change my life," etc.
14. "AND I HAVE DECLARED UNTO THEM THEY NAME, & will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, & I in them." (Vs.26.) Plant your love & your self & your heart in them like Jesus plants Himself in us! Isn't that a wonderful Scripture to get? That prayer is so beautiful! I never got that Scripture, I don't think, for anything else. The Lord has given the hearts of some of these boys to some of you girls! It's beautiful!--Amen? Amen!
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