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JOHN CHAPTER 17 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Jn 17,1-26 (30h) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> God favors you by His grace >> He favors you through His son – These four chapters 14-17 are so important to the gospel that if edited from the Bible, would no longer tell what Jesus accomplished on the cross. He plainly elucidated His vision to the disciples. What He said in this chapter should be the vision of every Church and every person who considers himself a child of God. We are a people bound together with a common faith, being all that we have in common. (80l) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Jesus ministered to people through His ministry toward God – Jesus prayed to the Father that we would be with Him, a prayer that is sure to be answered, suggesting that we too should learn to pray according to Jesus' vision for His Church. Praying according to His will ensures that our prayers will be answered. Every prayer that Jesus asked from the Father He received, because He always did what was pleasing to Him and He never asked amiss. He always knew the will of His Father and prayed accordingly, and He has called us to do likewise. God has a vision that will not be sidetracked for long. Some people unwittingly ask God to go out of His way to answer their prayers, but He wants us to pray according to His will, and this chapter clarifies His will. Therefore we should use this chapter as a template for our own prayers. If we pray amiss, it indicates we don't have the heart of God, and it indicates our faith is lacking. Why ask God for a new car if we already have one that works? Again, why ask God for a new house if we already live under a roof that doesn't leak? God wants us to ask Him for things that pertain to His vision of an eternal kingdom with His people at the center of it. His people should not be living like the world, adopting its values, caring only for themselves, but should be seeking the will of God, because that is how He lived and prayed. (83e) Thy kingdom come >> Intercession >> Jesus stands in the gap >> He prays for us – Chapter 17 is Jesus' prayer to the Church; for this reason it is the most precious chapter in the Bible. It expresses the very heart of God and Jesus’ vision for mankind. These first few verses act as an introduction to everything He will say throughout this chapter. Jesus had been pouring His heart into His disciples for the last three chapters, and in this chapter He inverts the pitcher and gushes the contents of His soul on them, saying that it is just as imperative to know God as to receive eternal life, so much that one defines the other. “Knowing God” empowers us to unite, and unity is Jesus' ultimate vision for the Church. Jesus stressed the fact that He does not pray for the world, because it does not know God. Jesus is our Great High Priest, our intercessor; He prayed for the Church, but His blood interceded for the world in that it was the Father's plan that He should die for the sins of all mankind. We who are born of the Spirit have now become God’s intercessors to the world through prayer. The Father wants us all to know the love that God has for us, because He loves us as much as He loves His own Son, and He longs for us to experience His love through unity. Jn 17,1-12 (117e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >> Let Him work on you -- These verses go with verses 22-26 Jn 17,1-3 (207i) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The Kingdom of God >> Salvation authority of Jesus Christ Jn 17-1 (98f) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à Suffering à Glory of Christ) >> The cross -- This verse goes with verses 4&5 (215c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> Fulfillment of God’s time >> The moment we have all been waiting for (253g) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father glorifies Himself as He glorifies His Son -- This verse goes with verses 22-26 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,2-12 (253ja) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is under the authority of the Father >> Jesus did His Father's will – Jesus does not possess anything that He did not receive from His Father. Some people think Jesus had His own authority, but they are missing the point; they don’t understand the trinity, and they certainly don’t understand the gospel. They want Jesus to have His own authority, so they too can keep their own authority (freedom) to do whatever they want, but Jesus did not walk in His authority but in the authority of His Father, which means we too must lay down our authority and pick up His authority to do His will. People resist the knowledge of Jesus living under the authority of His Father, because they know it means they must submit to the authority of Christ. Everything Jesus said in His High Priestly Prayer was about submitting to His Father and consequently receiving authority to become His children and receiving power through unity, resulting in the world's salvation. Jesus' relationship with God was based on submission; therefore, our relationship with God too is based on submission. He wants His people to submit to Him as He submits to His Father, and in so doing we will receive the life and the will that God has for us, and discover unity that we would not find on our own. The Church is not in submission to Christ, and this is why nobody can agree on anything. If the Church did submit, Jesus promised the world would benefit; people would realize that Jesus was their savior, but the world does not realize this from a lack of unity in the Church. They may have heard the gospel, but they don’t believe it. If the Church submitted to Christ and developed unity among its members, the world would not only know that Jesus was their savior, many would also believe it. Not everyone would get saved, but there would be a mass revival of epic proportions that the Church has never seen. Jn 17-2,3 (29j) Gift of God >> God is on our side >> God identifies with us >> He is our advocate -- These verses go with verses 6-26 (35k) Gift >> God gives Himself to us >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> The gift of life (66k) Authority >> Lordship of Christ >> Jesus’ authority >> He has authority over man – Jesus has authority over all mankind, and from this sea of people the Father gives some to His Son, so that He may give them eternal life, which is defined as knowing God. Salvation is also defined as possessing the Holy Spirit. These two definitions of eternal life: knowing God and the indwelling Holy Spirit, are the same, meaning that the indwelling Holy Spirit teaches us about God. Right now we do not see Jesus having authority over all mankind, but a day is coming when His authority will expand both to the good and to the evil, because He is the judge of all the earth. Every person will stand before Christ either at the believer’s judgment or at the White Throne Judgment, and come to either live with Christ in heaven or be thrown into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Either way His Lordship will touch every soul. (114k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Jesus is the way to the Father -- These verses go with verses 6-10 (205e) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of eternal life (208ja) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Knowing God >> Church knows Christ as a woman knows a man – How does a person come to know God? Apparently it has something to do with prayer, since this chapter is a prayer. However, if it were simply a matter of prayer, we could be praying our own will, so we need direction in our prayer and that direction comes through the word of God. Therefore, we come to know God and His will through the word of God and prayer. (227k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >> Depending on Jesus to instill His life in us (244d) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Jesus is the source of eternal life – Jesus made many promises, but His biggest promise and the one He most often repeated was that of eternal life. In this chapter He defines eternal life as knowing God and His Son, Jesus Christ. So, eternal life is a matter of knowing God. Heaven is in the presence of God; He and heaven are inseparable, but we don’t have to wait to go to heaven; we can know God right now through the Holy Spirit that He has given us. Therefore, eternal life has already begun for us who believe in Jesus; all we have to do is seek the presence of God by committing our lives to doing His will. Jn 17-2 (214a) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> God owns everything -- This verse goes with verses 5-10 (219e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God selects us from the world -- This verse goes with verse 6 Jn 17-3 (255h) Trinity >> Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> Three in one >> There is only one God -- This verse goes with verse 11 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,4-12 (114ha) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus gives voice to His Father -- These verses go with verses 21-26 (253f) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father honors the Son who honors the Father – Jesus came to do the will of His Father; if we understood this, it would revolutionize Christianity, but as it is, many people in the Church today still believe Jesus came by His own authority, completely ignoring the Father. When we say the generic name “God”, we are referring to the Father; most people don’t acknowledge Him, because they don’t understand where He fits in the puzzle of the trinity. We understand Jesus, but then there is the Holy Spirit, who is also largely forgotten, though He dwells in every believer. When Jesus returned to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit in His place. If many in the Church have forgotten about the Holy Spirit, how much more have they forgotten about the Father? We almost never hear anything about either of them; we only hear about Jesus, but He is one of three members of the trinity, who are all three equally important to the salvation of man. Understanding Jesus only is like understanding a third of the gospel. (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God -- These verses go with verse 15. Why do some people want to believe that Jesus came by His own authority? If He did, then there would be two sets of absolute authority independent of each other. There would not be unity between Father and Son, but Jesus and His Father are bonded together through the one absolute authority they share in common with an unbreakable relationship, and the bond that holds them together is submission. We too relate to God through submission. When we look at the world, people are in rebellion against God, just the opposite of Christ, and for this reason the world cannot know Him. Jn 17-4,5 (67b) Authority >> Jesus is at the right hand of the father >> He is above all other authorities (98e) Faith >> Suffering >> Glory (Key verse) (98f) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à Suffering à Glory of Christ) >> The cross -- These verses go with verse 1. Jesus wasn’t merely restored to His former glory before the world was created. Rather, God glorified Him all the more, setting up the way of salvation for all mankind through the cross, and putting His enemies under His feet. (253g) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father glorifies Himself as He glorifies His Son -- These verses go with verses 22-26 Jn 17-4 (8l) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing the sacrifice (44i) Judgment >> Transformed >> Fulfill your ministry >> Calling from God >> Complete it -- This verse goes with verses 14-19. This is Jesus’ high priestly prayer, and shortly afterward, He would give His life for the sins of the world. He said that His Father's will was already completed, meaning the cross would happen sure as prophecy is fulfilled. Jesus glorified His Father, completing the work that He had for Him to do, and we too can glorify God by completing our work that He has given us to do. Eph 2-10 says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” God has created a certain trail of good works, meaning He has a certain life in mind for us. Most Christians don’t know God’s plan for their lives. Some go to great lengths to discover it, while others don’t seek His will at all. When we don't know His divine purpose, we should search with all our heart, and if we never find it, the pursuit itself will have fulfilled His purpose. However, Jesus always knew His Father’s purpose for Him. Therefore, He will reveal His purpose to us too, for He modeled Christianity for us, and He doesn’t want us in the dark about anything. If we are trying to understand God’s calling and are having trouble, maybe the problem stems from the doctrines we believe. Some don't believe we are supposed to hear from God, while others don't believe there is a divine trail of good works, but those who don't believe this would plug their ears if God ever tried to speak to them, and if they learned of God specific will, they wouldn't do it. Although we fail in regard to almost everything, we should at least try. (117h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Vision >> Real-eyes God’s purpose >> Understand God’s purpose for your life (219j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> God’s calling is our destiny – Jesus prepared the sacrifice of His own life for 33 faithful years and accomplished the work that God had given Him to do, then offered up His flesh as a soothing aroma, flawless and acceptable to the Father. Jesus said He had already accomplished the work His Father had given Him to do, as though He had already gone to the cross, which was destined to happen by man and predestined by God. Predestination is like watching a movie for the second time. Will the movie end the same way again? Of course it will, because it’s a recording. Jesus watched the movie in heaven with His Father long before the foundation of the world and knows how it ends, but in a very real sense Jesus had to live out that movie in order to experience it firsthand, and the cross was still ahead of Him. He didn’t want to virtually experience the cross; he wanted to literally experience everything that pertained to living and dying in a human body made of flesh and blood. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,5-10 (66e) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> His position with the Father >> Jesus is under His authority – Although Jesus is co-owner of the entire creation and has been given authority over all mankind, yet in a stricter sense all things belong to the Father, and of mankind He has given those who believe in Him as a gift for going to the cross. Jesus’ authority over mankind will be expressed at the White Throne Judgment when God judges the world in righteousness through Christ (Rev 20,11-15). They will stand before Him and Christ will judge their sins, and the one sin that will land them a place in the lake of fire will be the sin of unbelief. It was important to Jesus that we understand that He is under the authority of the Father, that the Holy Spirit is under the authority of Christ and that we are under the authority of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we should submit to human authorities when appropriate and especially to our leaders in the Church who serve us. It was important to Jesus that we understand that He did not come on His own volition, but the Father sent Him. It was not His love that He demonstrated, but His Father's love for the world. Jesus did not express His own interest in mankind but His Father's interest. Now we know that the Father loves us, who most epitomizes God. (214a) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> God owns everything -- These verses go with verse 24 Jn 17-5 (253b) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son is infinite and eternal like the Father -- This verse goes with verse 24. Many cults like to attack Jesus status as the Son of God and say that He is a created being. Based on this verse we know that Jesus existed before the creation, yet this does not stop the cults; they say God created Jesus before He created anything else, and then used Him to create the universe, but if that were the case, it would mean the universe was created by (or through) a created being and not by the creator Himself, which is irrational. Therefore, the cults want to tell us that a created being indirectly created the universe. No one but the creator could create the universe, as Scripture teaches; the Father created the universe through Christ (Jn 1,1-3,10; Col 1-16,17). Satan would love us to believe that Jesus was a created being, because that would set Christ on par with Lucifer, who is a created being. For a created being to create the creation is no more possible than a created being to overthrow God's throne. Jn 17,6-26 (29j) Gift of God >> God is on our side >> God identifies with us >> He is our advocate -- These verses go with verses 2&3 (31a) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> He favors the Church to spite the world – Jesus made a point to tell us that He does not pray for the world to be saved; rather, He prays for the Church to grow spiritually and numerically. The world was not His concern; rather, His concern was obeying the Father. The Church is the Father’s gift to Christ for going to the cross. In that sense, the greatest gift we can offer the Lord is human souls whom we have led to believe in Him. These are the ones that the Father has chosen as a gift to His Son that we may present to Him in heaven. Jesus preached the gospel to Israel, though His role was not an evangelist but a priest. His greatest concern on earth was His disciples, saying in verse 12, “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Therefore, to tell people in the world that Jesus loves them is not exactly true. Instead, we should tell them that God the Father loves them. Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus often said that He was not a free agent doing what He wanted but was a bondservant of His Father’s love for the world, and we should follow in His footsteps and become a bondservant of Christ. Jn 17,6-23 (165g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake of the world >> Be in the world but not of the world – Jesus was in the world, but He was not of the world, and He has commanded us to do the same. He came into the world and set Himself apart from the world, and we are to follow His example and live contrary to the world, according to the Spirit of truth who lives in us. We adhere instead to the principles of God’s coming kingdom. If someone offends us, the world says we should hate them for it, but God says we should love our enemies; that is one example of many opposite principles by which God has called us to live, and they set us apart from the world, distinguishing us from unbelievers, causing people to see that we are different. Some will gravitate to us, and the rest will persecute us, and this is the Christian life. We call many out of the world to follow Jesus as aliens living in a foreign land, and we offend many by our lack of citizenship, for we choose not to participate in their world. We find fault with their world, and when we call them to sanctification, they are offended that we would consider them sinners in need of a Savior. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,6-12 (227h) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >> Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts into us >> He gives us what we give to each other -- These verses go with verses 21-26. There were a few things Jesus wanted His disciples to understand, most importantly, His relationship with the Father. Jesus did not come on His own initiative. Many think Jesus did His own will, but He did the will of His Father to show us the love of God. Jesus did not ask the Father for the world but for the Church; He didn’t pray for the world but for the Church (v9). It was very important that His disciples understood that the Father gave Him His name: Christ, which means “Messiah”, the anointed One. The Father gave Jesus His name by anointing Him, and His name is the Father’s name, meaning God is anointed, and He has begotten us (Jn 1-12,13; 3,2-8), so we have inherited His name as Christians. No one in heaven or on earth has had a greater anointing than Jesus, but all of us collectively do more good in the world than He did (Jn 14-12). When we think of the Church collectively doing more than Jesus refers to synergy, the sum being greater than its parts. So there is an exaltation of Christ by the Church that God has endowed upon us through His blood sacrifice as the anointed One. On the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mat 27-46). This was the moment Jesus lost His anointing, and it was the only time throughout eternity that He was no longer the Christ, because He was no longer anointed. Throughout eternity past Jesus had always been the anointed One, and it says that His anointing was not His own but He received is from the Father. He gave it to Him for the express purpose of doing the Father's will, and we are to do the will of God by an anointing that He has given us. The title “Christians” means anointed ones. When Jesus cried those words on the cross (above), the Father transferred His anointing to us. One of the most important things to Jesus about the Church is that we should be one, even as He is one with the Father, referring to unity. He wants His people to be united, and right now the Church is probably the least united it has ever been. Every denomination is a schism in the Church. Some people say that denominations are good because they give people a brand of Christianity that they can choose; however, that dismisses unity. How many denominations existed in the first century? One, it was called the Truth, and the First Century Church was the healthiest it has ever been, but today no denomination has the Truth. There are two significant periods in the Church’s history: the first generation and the last generation, and everything in-between is a blur. Whatever happened in the first generation will happen in the last generation, only far greater to the degree that there are more people alive today than in the first century. The Church today is exponentially larger, meaning its anointing will be exponentially greater. Everything Jesus said in the Gospel of John chapters 14-17 will be fulfilled in the last days, including as especially unity. God will have His way, and we will invite Jesus Christ back to the earth. Jn 17,6-10 (114k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Jesus is the way to the Father -- These verses go with verses 2 & 3 Jn 17,6-8 (6a) Responsibility >> Jesus’ yoke of obedience >> Our obligation to keep His commandments – God uses our obedience to open our eyes to Christ. Verse 6 implies that if we keep His word, we will come to know Him in a new light. Jesus led His disciples into obedience (how to believe), just as He leads us into what we must do to believe in Him. (79h) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word >> Practice listening to God’s word so you can hear it (86a) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believe the word by obeying it – Before the Guttenberg press the word of God was not readily available, and now that the Bible is available, it still seems to have no effect on the world. The Spirit of Truth no longer has a voice in the Church, because people don't live by what they know. Disobeying the truth is the reason people don't understand the Scriptures. We can believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but can our understanding alone save us? If we obeyed the truth the Holy Spirit would convince us of it, and we would be saved, but so many people in the Church today believe in a set of doctrines without obeying them, and for this reason they are not convinced of their own salvation. (114f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Receiving a revelation from God through obedience -- These verses go with verses 21-23 (139k) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Abiding in Jesus (231e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Revelation of Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom >> Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom -- These verses go with verse 25 Jn 17-6 (28a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> The protector of our faith -- This verse goes with verses 11&12 (67g) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> The name of Jesus is the salvation of God -- This verse goes with verses 11&12 (88e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> The function of works in faith >> Faith doesn’t move men until it is manifested in the spiritual realm (219e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God selects us from the world -- This verse goes with verse 9. Some of the complexities of predestination have led to many false teachings, supposing that we cannot lose our salvation. They believe this through some of their Calvinistic ideas, such as the doctrines of Irresistible Grace and Eternal Security. They say, ‘Since God is making me His child, I don’t have to do anything but sit back and relax and let Him do all the work.’ Nevertheless, the Bible teaches that a person can lose his place in heaven (Rev 3-5), and for that reason we are to watch, pray and stay on the alert. There are others who say, ‘Since it is up to God whether or not I am His child, if I don’t get saved, it is His fault and there is nothing I can do about it.’ These are all misconceptions. Paul said in 2Cor 6-1, “Working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” We work with the Holy Spirit in perfecting our salvation, which guarantees the Father’s foreknowledge regarding us. God already knows everything from the beginning, but we don’t have His knowledge, yet we can make a commitment to Jesus, ordering our way aright and rooting ourselves in the grace of God, and in this way know in ourselves that we belong to Him because we are serving Him. God chooses us as we choose ourselves. (220a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined before the foundation of the world – There is a difference between the Father’s foreknowledge and His predestination. For example, the Holy Spirit works extensively with people, nudging them to comply with the grace of God, yet most will never make it to heaven, but the Father’s work was done before the Christian was ever born. God knows who will respond to Him and who won’t, and in that sense predestination and foreknowledge seem synonymous, but they’re not. We members of the true Church first belonged to the Father, having been predestined by Him, who has given us to His Son through the practical application of our faith. On the one hand, foreknowledge is simply the fact that God knows everything that will happen before it happens, not as an educated guess but actually going to the future to seeing the outcome firsthand. On the other hand, predestination refers to God causing things, such as judging Pharaoh in the days of Moses. The difference between the two is that one is passive while the other is active. God doesn’t always get involved in everything that happens; He just knows the end from the beginning, but in other cases He gets involved and sees to it that certain things get done, and in this way predestines things to happen. God has taken an active role in the formation of the Church, and so the Church as a whole was predestined, and the Holy Spirit plays an active role in pursuing us. See also: Foreknowledge versus predestination; Rom 11-25,26; 214g (245b) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of Jesus Christ >> Jesus is the manifestation of the Father KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,7-10 (66g) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> He owns everything from the father – It was the Father’s will to secure redemption for mankind through His Son. Absolutely everything originates from the Father. Jesus is the word of God; He is literally the voice of the Father in that whatever Jesus says manifests in creation. Jesus was under the authority of His Father when He lived in the flesh, and this has always been His place with the Father throughout eternity, and it will never change, and Jesus is saying that this too is exactly the relationship we have with God. Everything Jesus possessed He received from His Father, just as we possess all things through Christ. Jesus owns nothing of Himself but has come into possession of the entire creation, and we are following in His footsteps. The one word we can use to describe heaven is “submission”. All creation is subject to the Father, including Jesus, though He is not a created being; therefore, how much more are we to submit to Christ? Jn 17-7 (34a) Gift of God >> God’s generosity >> Believer owns everything >> Jesus belongs to us – This verse goes with verses 21-26 (109a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Spirit reveals the Father (151i) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Creation is evidence of God >> No other source but God can explain the creation Jn 17-8 (107b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Word creates faith >> Jesus’ words create faith (230e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >> Partaking of the word of God – The disciples were a lot of ragtag clumsy oafs incapable of doing anything right for God, until Pentecost; then the Holy Spirit ignited their belief in Jesus, and the result was the anointing. The anointing is something that we too can receive from God, because we are post-Pentecost Christians. We have the word of God in the Bible and we can read these words and believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world; He died for our sins to release us from God’s judgment, making us acceptable in His sight so we can go to heaven and live with Him forever. Miracles alone that Jesus performed were not how Jesus convinced his disciples that He was the Son of God, also His words combined with the Spirit, and we have this same advantage through the Spirit who lives in us. The Holy Spirit ignites the truth that we believe, so we can perform the works of God that He has prepared for us, as did the apostles, preaching the gospel of the kingdom with boldness that conveyed the presence of Christ. They were fearless, exceeding courage; they had the word of God, making them speak with the voice of angels. They had power in their tongue to transform men and women into the children of God. They had a persuasiveness that followed their words into the ears of ignorant man, into their conscience, convicting them of the truth. They had a convincing Spirit that surrounded them and worked with the word of God that performed God’s work to establish His Church in the world. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,9-23 (222a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> The Church is hidden from the world Jn 17-9,10 (34b) Gift of God >> God’s generosity >> Believer owns everything >> Trinity belongs to us >> Father belongs to us Jn 17-9 (33j) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> God serves His people who serve Him >> He treats His people with special care – It should come as a surprise to some that Jesus does not pray for the world, only for His own whom God has given Him. This suggests that Jesus does not seek the world, even suggesting that Jesus doesn’t love the world. Instead, it was the Father’s love that sent Jesus to the cross to die for the world, that His earthly ministry was in obedience to the Father, that Jesus did not die for the sins of the world by His own volition. Jn 3-16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” It is the Spirit of our Father who touches each heart and pricks each conscience and invites each soul to become a child of God, and we respond as Jesus prays for us. We hear a calling from God extending all the way to the Father, who has been seeking us since the beginning of eternity. His calling comes into our ears, and those who are destined to be His children discern their Father’s voice. We hear our Father in the Holy Spirit and we answer His call. Then He turns over His ministry to the Son who prays for us to receive power to lead a godly life. The smallest amount of genuine faith in the Bible is enough to connect with God, and from there, we can hear the Holy Spirit who strengthens us by His grace to believe in Jesus by a God-given faith. The Father wills us to become His children, the Spirit seeks us and Jesus prays for us. (33n) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> God receives us -- This verse goes with verse 24. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer, He exclusively prayed for the Church, and especially for His apostles, using them as a microcosm of those who would believe in Him throughout the age of grace. Jesus did not pray for the world; in fact, He made a special effort not to pray for the world. When we look at Jesus, His person and ministry, He reached out to anybody and everybody, but that was only because the Church had not yet been created. When He rose from the dead, he appeared only to those who believed in Him; then after He ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit in His place only to His believers, and then He began a ministry among the saints. (219e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God selects us from the world -- This verse goes with verse 24. When Jesus prays for us, the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart. Can you hear Jesus praying for you? The world does not partake of Jesus ministry of intercession; they only have the potential to be chosen of the Father. There are those in the world who may desire to be Christians, but have never heard the Holy Spirit calling them into His eternal kingdom. The best thing they can do is obey Him until He calls, and later they will discern His voice. The Bible teaches us to live as though we have been called, and by our reverence, He will lead us to Himself. Most have obeyed after they were called, like Abraham (Heb 11-8), but there are others who have first obeyed and then heard the call from God. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (Jn 6-37). Sometimes God chooses us as we choose ourselves, and because of them no one can accuse God that He never called them, for they obeyed before they were called. If they wanted to know Him, they could have sought Him on their own and found Him. Even Paul said this in Act 17-27, “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” If we as much as grope for Him we will find Him whether we feel called or not. Even these, the Father has predestined to become His children. If we want to know God, we can, for He avails Himself to those who seek Him. See also: Groping for God; 223j / Predestination excludes the works of men; Rom 11-6; 205i (222f) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> God does not entrust his treasures to dogs >> Do not recognize dogs – Jesus doesn’t pray for the world; He prays for the Church, why? It is not up to Him who are His believers; it is up to the Father, for we belong chiefly to the Father and the Father has given us to His Son as a gift (v6), and we have kept His word. It is not Jesus’ responsibility to save the world; it is the Father who chooses us from the world to be His worshippers. Once they become the Father’s worshippers, He will give them to His Son and they will become believers in Jesus and members of His body. (223j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the train >> Miss the invitation from God – The person who gets saved later in life finds that Christ has been interceding for him, but those who never get saved, Jesus never prayed for them. Someone might ask, ‘Then how could they be saved?’ We all have a will and we exercise that will, and the will that unbelievers use against God is just as real as the will they use to seek Him, so if they never sought God their whole lives, it is tantamount to God never choosing them. They never got saved because they never sought God, and they never got saved because God never chose them; both of these are true at the same time and to the same degree. Some say that this is impossible, that it can only be one or the other, but that is false. There is a type of mathematics that is growing in popularity called Quantum Mechanics that explains many observations that scientists see in subatomic particles. It says that an electron circling an atom exist in a cloud of probability or uncertainty or even exist in more than one place at the same time, and they are finding more applications to this quizzical mathematics. If His creation has traits like this, then so does the spiritual realm, suggesting that a person can seek Him before he is called and find Him the same as those who are called and chosen. See also: Groping for God; 219e Jn 17-10 (34g) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> He is generous with His spiritual blessings – Jesus doesn’t own anything of Himself but has received all things from the Father, so when Jesus said, “All things that are Mine are Yours,” He was saying, ‘The things You have given to Me, I am giving back to You,’ just as God required of Abraham. God called Abraham and gave Him blessings and promises and commanded Him to leave His home country and go to a land that he did not know, and promised him a son through his wife, Sarah, that he would not have received had he disobeyed, because Sarah was barren. Isaac was born a miracle from God and then God wanted Abraham to dedicate Isaac to Him, so God would have absolute ownership over Isaac. Isaac was therefore no longer Abraham’s possession after he sacrificed him to the will of God, and of course God didn’t actually want Isaac dead, but he made Abraham go through the motions of sacrificing him all the way to the point of plunging the knife into him; then God stopped him at the last moment, and it proved that Abraham would have actually done it. Therefore, Isaac was not Abraham’s son but God's son after that, for a spiritual transaction occurred at that moment, and Isaac now belonged to God, and so did Abraham's obedience; and the icing on the cake, Abraham received his son back as a steward of God’s possession. God did not deny Himself anything that he wanted from Abraham but gave back the son he received from the hand of God. We know that Abraham was a rich man, yet God asked only for his son, who Abraham valued most, being the fulfillment of God’s promise. All these things are applicable to the sacrifice that God made of His Son on the cross. The Father gave Jesus Christ to mankind, and then sacrificed Him to reclaim possession of Him, and then gave Him back to us, so that everyone who believes in him also becomes the Father's property. We belong to God through Christ, and everything the Father owns belongs to us, which is the entire creation. See also: Abraham trusted God; Heb 11,6-40; 5i KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,11-19 (25a) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Hate the truth (191f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> God sanctifies us through our devotion to Him – What does it mean that Jesus sets us apart through His word? It is the act of believing in Him that sets us apart. The word of God outside faith has no power. A Bible verse could be written on a billboard, and everybody who drives past it could read it, and it wouldn’t sanctify anybody, except those who believe it, setting them apart from unbelievers. We distinguish ourselves through faith in Jesus, and we know what kind of faith it takes for God to sanctify us in the truth; not the kind that the disciples had while they walked with Him. They confessed that they believed He came from God (Jn 16,30-32), and Jesus answered them incredulously, “Do you now believe? Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” This was not the faith that God uses to sanctify us in the truth. "Sanctify" means set apart from the world, not physically but spiritually, as in the anointing. He asked the Father that His Church be defined by the truth. The fact that we know the truth is what separates us from the world. The world may know a few facts about God, but they don't know what those facts mean, and so their facts are worthless. It is when we combine the Holy Spirit with the word of God that we come to know the truth as God intended us. The truth is spiritual. The world doesn’t know the truth, because it is secular and refuses to accept or receive the things of God. The world hates those who believe in Him, because they are not at liberty to seek God for themselves from the enmity in their hearts that they refuse to resolve. They are in bondage to unbelief. See also: Sanctified; Jn 17,14-19; 44i / Spirit and the Word (Both must be present); Jn 17-13; 125e / God reveals Himself to the degree that we obey Him; Jn 7,47-49; 176f Jn 17-11,12 (28a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> He is the protector of our faith -- These verses go with verse 15. What was the name that the Father gave His Son that Jesus used to protect His disciples? His name was Christ, meaning, “anointed One”, suggesting that His anointing protected the disciples. Therefore, God will protect us through an anointing that He gives to His children who do his will. He never publicly claimed to be the Christ; He may have alluded to it, but He never once said, ‘I am the Christ,’ except at His mock trial, which is what got Him crucified. Everybody but the religious establishment seemed to know that Jesus was the Christ without Him outright telling them. Even the religious establishment knew He was the Christ, yet they refused to believe it. Indeed, one disciple in the inner circle of twelve denied Jesus Christ and killed himself, according to the prophecy of Scripture. This is what the name of Christ did for the disciples: it satisfied the word of God, and it is what His word will do for us if we live by His name. There will be some who would want to kill us, but they will destroy themselves by denying the truth about the Christ who lives in us. (67g) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> The name of Jesus is the salvation of God -- These verses go with verse 26. Jesus spoke futuristically as though He had already returned to the Father, speaking of a time when He will send the Holy Spirit in His place when He is no longer in the world, saying, “Holy Father, keep them in thy name, the name which thou has given me, that they may be one, even as we are [one].” That name is Jesus Christ; the name “Christ” means, “anointed one.” So, He was asking the Father to keep (or protect) us as we walk in the anointing, just as He guarded His disciples under the canopy of His anointing. God keeps us as we walk in the revelation of His word to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Jn 17-11 (129i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> God’s love – Jesus wants His church to be united to reflect the nature of God, who exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and have enjoyed perfect unity throughout eternity and maintained that unity while Jesus lived in the flesh. Unity is important because it is the antithesis of Satan, even more so than love. Without unity the Church cannot represent God in the world, for without it the individuals are not one but many, and God said there was only one Church. Without unity we would not possess His most prized attribute, which is greater even than love, though it is related in that unity is a manifestation of love, just as love is a manifestation of faith. The fact that unity is God’s most distinguishing attribute explains why it was Jesus’ primary vision for the Church. See also: Unity; 255h (255h) Trinity >> Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> Three in one >> There is only one God -- This verse goes with verse 3. The word “one” in this context means unity. He wasn’t just talking about one God; He was also talking about three aspects of God united as one, and to say they are united is to say there is only one God. The reason there is only one God is that there is only one absolute authority in the Father, while Jesus wields that authority, and the Holy Spirit does the work of Christ throughout creation. If it weren’t for unity there would be three gods, but unity brings them together as one absolute authority throughout creation. They are so inexplicably united that it transcends the concept of unity and makes them literally one. For this reason we can confidently say there is only one God, though there are three aspects of Him. When we refer to unity in the body of Christ, we are talking about individual members as one in Spirit, but in eternity God will do the same with the Church; we will become so united we will be as one. See also: Unity; Jn 17,21-26; 129j KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17-12 (141a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the great shepherd Jn 17,13-21 (117b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke through obedience Jn 17-13 (125e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy >> Joy is the result of partaking of the Holy Spirit >> Joy of the revelation of Jesus Christ – The word of God does not bring joy, except by the Holy Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life (2Cor 3-6). The word of God does not impart truth apart from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit does not give life apart from the word of God. Rather, the Holy Spirit and the word of God work together to impart God’s life and joy. See also: Spirit and the Word (Both must be present); Jn 17,11-19; 191f Jn 17,14-19 (28j) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects us from the devil (40h) Judgment >> Judgment of Christ >> God’s word judges the world >> It does not obey Him (44i) Judgment >> Transformed >> Fulfill your ministry >> Calling from God >> Complete it -- These verses go with verse 4. When Jesus said that He sanctified Himself, He was referring to His ministry that began on the day of His baptism, and the anointing came upon Him like a dove. After His temptation in the wilderness, He returned to civilization and started preaching the gospel of the kingdom. In this way He sanctified Himself. Before His ministry, Jesus was a regular guy, totally blended into the crowd, no different from anyone else. Jesus sanctified Himself in the ministry so He could sanctify His disciples in the ministry that Christ would give them after Pentecost. Jesus didn’t want the disciples to live in the world the way He did before His ministry, incognito. His vision was that they would live the way He did during His ministry as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1Cor 4-1), but how does the Church live in the world today? Those who claim faith in Jesus are not sanctifying themselves in the word of God and prayer. Jesus wants us all set apart for His cause; He wants us all seeking the ministry that He has prepared for them. God has a ministry for each person, and He wants us all busy fulfilling it, and in that ministry He will sanctify us. Fulfilling the purpose of God is to walk down the trail of good works that He arranged from the foundation of the world. If we busy ourselves with His plan and purpose, we will be set apart from the world to do his will. People in the Church today are trying much harder to fit in to this world than they are trying to fit into God’s plan for their lives. See also: Sanctified; 111aa (111aa) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit sets you apart by t he word >> Set apart by His grace – The word of God can do nothing without the Holy Spirit. The Spirit and the word work together in the believer’s heart to sanctify him in the truth, to set him apart from the world. This is something that God's people need to grasp in these last days. What happens in the believer is that the Holy Spirit transforms God’s people through His word, setting him apart so that he becomes a stranger and alien in the world (1Pet 2-11). Jn 17-14 (183g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of the world – The world hates those Christians who are set apart from the world, but there are other Christians today who are as much part of this world as the world, and the world does not hate them, because they are not sanctified in truth. The world hates those who are not of the world through jealousy, because they do not share the same spirit. According to 1Jn 2,15-17, the world embraces the sin of pride in two main areas: in their lust for sex and in their greed for money and possessions. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit embraces Love, which is subcategorized into eight essentials: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, according to Gal 5,22-25. Those who are set apart from the world do not live by the attributes of pride, and since they live by standards defined by the Spirit, God has placed His mark on them, seen as a countenance, and the world hates them. Ecclesiastes 8-1 says, “The man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.” They hated Jesus for the same reason. He did not speak their language; he did not hold to their values; he believed in truth that He received from God, and it contradicted the philosophies of the world and offended the theology of the religious establishment. Jesus essentially rejected the world’s perception of reality and cursed their unbelief, and the world still hates Him for it. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,15-21 (237c) Kingdom of God >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> Rapture is delayed – Jesus asked His Father not to rapture the Church from Satan and His antichrist, but to protect us by the anointing from the evil one. The very thing that makes the world hate us, God will use to protect us. Jesus has given us an anointing to protect us from the evil one, and this anointing teaches us about the word of God, councils us about the truth and imparts in us glory and wisdom, which generates the revelation of God’s word. When we walk in His revelation, the Holy Spirit produces His fruit, while God imparts in us faith that is greater than the world’s unbelief. Jn 17-15 (28a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> The protector of our faith -- This verse goes with verse 6 (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God -- This verse goes with verse 20 Jn 17,17-19 (107l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> hearing from God >> The Bible will lead you to truth >> Thy word is truth – “Sanctify” means to set apart. This word Jesus used had a two-fold meaning: both the logos and the rhema, both the written word and the revelation of the written word. The Logos without its conjugate rhema is unable to set us apart from the world. Unbelievers can read the Bible, yet they don’t believe it. They might believe many things about the Bible; they can believe that many of the Old Testament stories actually happened, and they can even believe the Bible is authentic; but if they don’t have a spiritual understanding of God’s word, they don’t really believe it. God must reveal His word to us, or we don’t know it. Jn 17-17 (244k) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of God’s word >> Obedience is the manifestation of truth – Jesus described the kind of faith that His true believers have in Him, the kind that is able to manifest in the world. As we manifest our faith through obedience, we become sanctified in the truth, set apart from unbelievers. We become someone with whom the world cannot identify. Unbelievers can identify with anybody who has religious views, but someone with the same ethnic and cultural background who obeys Jesus Christ is viewed as an alien from another planet, because the world belongs to Satan. Although the world does not believe in the god of this world, yet they cannot help but act as his disciples. Anybody who would reject the philosophies of the world and instead believe and prescribe the teachings of Scripture is labeled a renegade of this world and is persecuted. Jn 17-20,21 (210ib) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Jew and Gentile believers are one flock with one shepherd – Jesus did not ask on behalf of His disciples only (the Jews), but also for those of us who would believe in His word throughout the millennia (the gentiles). He prayed for the Church throughout its 2000-year journey since the cross, that we all might be one, even as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, and that we may be united with Him. The marriage supper of the lamb is the occasion that celebrates the Father assembling the Church that has grown throughout the millennia and presenting her to Christ. Until then He wants His church united, even as they will be in heaven. Jn 17-20 (2a) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments >> Fulfill your vows in marriage to God – Jesus said, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone,” referring to His twelve disciples, “but for all those who believe in Me through their word,” referring to the Church. Jesus said that we believe in Him through our word; Paul confirms this in Rom 10-9, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” So it is through our confession that we are saved through faith. Our confession is in the form of a vow, as in marriage. Our faith in Christ is virtually the same as an earthly marriage; the Bible plainly speaks about this. When we say our vows at the wedding in the presence of all, we are promising to remain faithful to our spouse, to always love and cherish her and to live monogamously with her. Our vow to the Lord is the same, only having spiritual connotations. We promise to believe in Jesus for the rest of our lives and worship no other gods (a spiritual form of adultery) and fulfill the calling that He has prepared for us to the best of our ability. Idolatry and adultery sound similar and mean about the same, except one means unfaithfulness to another human being, while the other means violating our covenant with God. (231h) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Body of Christ is the organism of God’s kingdom >> Jesus is the head of His body’s kingdom >> Jesus builds His kingdom in your midst (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God -- These verses go with verse 24 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,21-26 (32m) Gift of God >> Father will honor you >> Father honors His Son (34a) Gift of God >> God’s generosity >> Believer owns everything >> Jesus belongs to us – These verses go with verse 7 (35b) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> He is generous with the Spirit of His Son – To be in Christ and for Him to be in us means that we are in the Father's love and the Father's love is in us, in that Jesus is the Father’s love. People get teary-eyed when they read verses like this, but the love of God goes far beyond emotions. The love of the Father in Christ pertains to the Father’s willingness to do anything for His Son because the Son is willing to do anything for His Father. (36k) Gift of God >> Jesus is our inheritance – Jesus continues His vision beyond this life after heaven and earth are made new and the Church is established in eternity. Jesus expressed His desire to reveal His glory to us; He wants to show us the glory He had before God made anything. Now that He has purchased a people with His own blood, the Father has rewarded Christ with glory that is greater still. (50db) Judgment >> Last Days >> Great Endtime Revival >> Jews lead the world into revival >> Prophesied to unite the body of Christ at the end of the age – This is Jesus’ prayer to His Father for the Church, and His prayer has not yet been answered, but God will answer His prayer at the end of the age in a Great Endtime Revival, when all the things Jesus asked from His Father will come to pass. What do we hear the Church asking from God: bigger houses, newer cars, etc. People have visions of their personal lives, and this is one of many reasons Jesus’ vision of the Church has not been fulfilled. If we took on Jesus’ vision and strove to integrate into it, not just a handful of us but the Church as a whole, we could change the world, but that is not going to happen with the Church today, but a time is coming when this will be done. A Great Endtime Revival is coming with signs to be observed when God’s vision will be completely fulfilled in the last days. An effort was made in the early Church, in the first and second century, to accomplish this, and they came close, but devils infiltrated the Church just as Paul predicted (Act 20-29,30) and the vision was lost, and the Church has been lost ever since. We cannot come back to the place by ourselves where God put us; we can’t even ask God for help, because our doctrines are too manhandled and distorted for us to understand the Bible. A Great Endtime Revival is coming, and the Jews will manage it. God will restore the Jew to faith in Jesus, and they will head this revival, and millions of gentile believers will be saved, and it will transpire mostly in third-world countries, where the gospel has scarcely been preached. They won’t have to fight all our false doctrines that have been festering in the developed nations over these last two millennia. If we want to be part of this revival, we may have to pack our bags, buy a plane ticket and go where God will have set up camps in the wilderness. Pray that God will provide for a remnant of believers in developed countries of the world. (68g) Authority >> We have been given authority to be the children of God – We know that God loves His Son, but do we know that God loves us just as much? We don’t know why God loves us; He just does. His love is something we just have to believe. God loves us, not because of our accomplishments, not because we have obeyed Him, but because He created us in His image. Thus, for God to love us is to love Himself. This has been His vision, even while He was angry at the Israelites in the Old Testament for all their disobedience and rebellion. He loves us based on a vision that he has of us, the role we will play in His kingdom, seated at Jesus’ right hand who is seated at the right-hand of His Father. His throne represents His authority, and this is why God created us, to imbue us with His authority. (91m) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> The trail that Jesus walked – If we are not striving to integrate into Jesus’ vision, then we are striving to fit into the world. Many churches teach that we can get by with living contrary to God's will, but the Bible teaches that if we are not living for Him it is an indication that we don’t belong to Him. We all stumble in many ways; we can hardly avoid it; we’re sinners. The question is not whether we can live without sin but whether we are willing to assume His vision. The Bible says that God has a trail of good works prepared for each of us, and if we will walk on this trail, picking up His good works along the narrow way, we will fulfill His vision, and all the things that Jesus said will come to pass in our lives, but who is seeking this trail? By the absence of unity in the Church it is apparent that few are seeking Him, not enough to make a difference. There will always be those who serve Christ with all their hearts, but this does not describe the Church as a whole. (114ha) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus gives voice to His Father -- These verses go with verses 4-12 (117g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Vision >> Real-eyes God’s purpose for the Church >> Understand Jesus' vision of the Church – Jesus is talking about life in heaven, and He is saying that He wants us to live now as we will then, for it means more to live for Him now than it will then. This life is like holding a very bright flashlight into the night sky. The flashlight represents our lives, and the light beam represents eternity. Throughout eternity that beam of light we send into the night sky will continue getting wider and wider the farther it travels into space, until eventually the beam becomes infinitely wide. The faithfulness we show the Lord in this life will have an infinite impact on eternity. The little it seems we are doing will accomplish far more than we can imagine. The glory God has given Jesus Christ He has given us, the opportunity to bear fruit, and the glory He has given us is His Spirit. (129j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Pursue unity in love that the world may be saved – Unity is the greatest tool of evangelism. You can tell people until you are blue in the face that God loves them, but unity says it better. If we want to communicate the love of God to the world, we must do it together or no one will listen. If the Church were spiritually united as Jesus was with His Father, it would be enough to save the world. however, people can’t just decide to unite, any more than a person can decide to build a skyscraper; it is not that simple. For one thing, it costs a lot of money and secondly it takes a lot of people with a lot of talent, and it also takes tremendous commitment. This passage contains the heart of Jesus’ vision; it is the central passage of chapter seventeen, which is the central chapter of the whole Bible. The one thing Jesus wanted was that we all be one, as the Father is in Jesus and as Jesus is in the Father, that we may be in them and they be in us, that the world may know that the Father sent Jesus Christ. If He loves us, then He must love them too, and He was saying that unity broadcasts this message (Jn 3-16). Unity in the Church proves that God loves the world; hence, the lack of unity suggests the opposite, that the Church is just a manmade institution. An individual’s love can only prove that God loves that individual, but unity conveys God's love to the whole world, and people will flock to our congregations. See also: Unity; Jn 17,21-23; 229a (132b) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Spirit of God in the spirit of man >> Spirit of Jesus (207g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The Kingdom of God >> Investing in the Kingdom of God (227h) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts into us >> He gives us what we give to each other -- These verses go with verses 6-12 (247a) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in His people >> God is interested in the Church – Obviously we can find information and teachings on Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer on the Internet, but how often is it explored in the pulpit these days? This chapter requires a sincere scrutiny of our faith, most likely to discover that the Church is not behind anything Jesus prayed. If people were honest, they would complain that the gospel Jesus taught is not the same gospel the Church teaches today. The Church seems to resemble the teachings of Jesus regarding salvation, though most Christians don’t have a clue what to do after that. When we tell a born-again Christian that Jesus has a vision of the Church, he is often baffled by this and upset, because the Christian has his own vision for his life. The Church hasn’t bothered one iota to assume Jesus’ vision, which can be described in one word—unity. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17,21-23 (114f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Receiving a revelation from God through obedience -- These verses go with verses 6-8 (149e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Compel them to come in >> luring them in (229a) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> Growing in numbers corresponds with spiritual growth >> Kingdom slowly spreads and overtakes darkness – The glory of Christ is the Church, and the glory of the Church is the anointing. The Church represents the body of Christ, the anointed one, only if we are united. God has anointed His church for the purpose of perfecting unity, and producing the fruit of the Spirit through the knowledge of the truth is the purpose of our anointing. According to Jesus, the element of unity is more than just coming into agreement with each other, though that is part of it, for unity that Jesus had in mind goes beyond the grasp of any human agency. The unity of Christ is divine. It is unity God creates in us and between us. It is unity that associates with the Father. It is unity that bears witness with the godhead. His desire is that we all merge into one, that we may share in His glory, that we know His thoughts and can express them that our unity may be known to the world. See also: Unity Jn 17-11; 129i Jn 17-21 (149e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Compel them to come in >> luring them in Jn 17,22-26 (117e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >> Let Him work on you -- These verses go with verses 1-12 (253g) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father glorifies Himself as He glorifies His Son -- These verses go with verse 1. Jesus earnestly desires to reveal His glory to His people. This was God’s vision from eternity past. He recognized His own glory and wanted others to see Him, so He created heaven, the universe and the angels, and then He created man in His own image for the purpose of delegating His glory to Him that man might reign over His creation through a union represented by the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We will actually be married to Christ, married to God! This suggests that the Father is inviting us to witness the Godhead firsthand in all that He says and does. The Church is the wife of the Lamb; this is the relationship we will have with Him, close and personal, and we should be pursuing this relationship with Him now. Jn 17-22,23 (136i) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Body of Christ is the Church -- These verses go with verse 26. It is the will of God that each individual be united in one body that we may all minister to Jesus as a single entity called the Church. The glory that each person gives to God is not the glory that He seeks, but the glory of all His people together as one. The unity of the Church will give glory to God in a way that will incite His return, ending the age of grace and manifesting the Kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus will not return to the earth until His people are complete in a state of unity. He has been waiting for us to unite for the last 2000 years, and here all this time we thought we were waiting for Him. Jn 17-23 (43j) Judgment >> Satan destroyed in the absence of sin >> Perfected in love – The Father gives His love from His infinite storehouse. There is no hoarding, only giving and receiving, and for this reason His love never expires, but continually increases. To be in the presence of Jesus is to receive His love, and the expectation is that we pass the glory of God to the next person, not to bury it but to give as we have been given. The love of God is for the purpose of giving, and it will return with a surplus. God glorified the Church so the Church would glorify God, that all aspects of the Trinity may be in unison, glorifying each other with the goal that the world would receive a revelation of Jesus Christ sent from heaven, that many may be saved. The Father glorified Himself when He glorified His Son, who in turn glorifies the Church, and we glorify Christ, who glorifies the Father in a continuous cycle, like a spiral staircase where each revolution lofts upward into higher states of glory, continuing forever, and it all begins with the Father. Without unity the world will not realize the value of Christ, and how will the world understand this if the Church doesn’t realize it? A day is coming when the people of God will truly unite, and the world will then understand that Jesus is the Son of God and many will believe in Him. (94l) Thy kingdom come >> God’s perspective >> God reflects on His plan (111e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> (149e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Compel them to come in >> luring them in (255f) Trinity >> Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> The process of imparting the substance of God >> Father discloses the word by the Spirit KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17-24 (33n) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> God receives us (57f) Paradox >> Opposites >> To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (214a) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> God owns everything -- This verse goes with verse 2 (219e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God selects us from the world -- This verse goes with verse 2. Two things are happening at the same time regarding Christ's return: there is the predestined moment of His return that only the Father knows, and there is Christ’s expectation for His people to obey Him and unite as one so He can return. On the one hand, God predestined His return 2000 years after Jesus’ ascension in accordance with the approximate 2000 year segments of time that we see between Adam and the birth of Abraham (1949 years), then between Abraham and the birth of Christ (1995 years), and now between Christ and His return (2021 years). This represents roughly 6000 years (5965), and then there will be a Millennium bringing the total to (7)000 years, seven being God’s favorite number. On the other hand, the apostles made it clear that Jesus could return in their own lifetime. Although the Church was largely faithful to Christ during the first and second century, obviously it wasn’t the will of God that He should return then. In the last days there will be a Great Endtime Revival, and God’s people will obey Him in a way that will meet His expectations, and He will return then. When we look at the entirety of endtime prophecy, none of the prophecies could have been fulfilled any time other than the period in which we are now living, and so in that sense it is impractical to say that Jesus would have come any sooner. This means God’s predestination trumps any other expectations of Christ’s return. Although God treats us as free agents who can exercise our will to do what we think is right, God’s foreknowledge determines what ultimately happens. He doesn’t pretend to believe the Church will act any way other than what He knew from the beginning. See also: Time ( 2000-year periods); Rev 1,1-3; 214h (224f) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> We shall always be with the Lord – Heb 13-5 says, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” and in other instances the Bible says that we will always be with the Lord (Mat 28-20; Jn 14-3; 1The 4-17; Rev 3-12). Once we get to heaven, we will never leave Jesus’ side again, indicating that it is painful for Jesus to be apart from us, just as it is painful for us to be apart from Him. (230c) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> What we must do to partake of the kingdom >> Partaking which requires no participation (237j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Citizens of heaven – Jesus wants to show us His glory in heaven; He is looking forward to it. Before we get to heaven He wants us to know just how great a Lord and Master we have; He wants to reveal these things to us now. The amazing thing about the relationship between the Godhead is that the Father never does anything apart for the Son. God wants to reveal Himself to His creation; this is not only important; it is critical, not just to Him but to us that we understand Him. We are His children, and he wants us to become like Him for the sake of emulating Him in word and deed. The Father has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He exercises His authority through His submissive Son, who is our gentle Shepherd, who is more humble than any creature with a free will. If God revealed Himself in some other way, that is, if He exercised His authority without going through His Son, we wouldn't know what to think of Him. People don't know what to think of Him anyway, but if He always works through His Son, we can trust Him, because we trust Jesus. We believe in Jesus; we love Him, and the Father wants us to know that He is just like His Son, for they are in fact one. Jesus is an aspect of God; He is part of the trinity. The fact that we are seated at His right-hand on His throne means that we are a direct witness to the Godhead, and we will bear witness of Him to His creation in the eons to come. We will teach His creation about Him, and His vision for us is to know Him that we might teach others about Him. (245c) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of Jesus Christ >> Jesus is the light of the world (252a) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for His inherent worthiness – No one in Scripture ever let anybody worship him, that also goes for the holy angels. The only person we should worship is God alone, and the only person in Scripture who accepted worship was Jesus Christ. This is strong evidence to support that Jesus is a divine member of the trinity; he lived in the world as God in human flesh. If this were not true, it would have been sin for Jesus to let people worship Him. Had Jesus sinned, the Father would not have raised Him from the dead, so the resurrection proves that Jesus was without sin and that He is God. (253b) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son is infinite and eternal like the Father -- This verse goes with verse 5. Some cults call themselves Christian, who deny Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh and thus deny Him as an aspect of the Godhead (Col 2-9). They redefine the term Son of God to mean something other than what the Bible teaches. They claim that Jesus is a created being. In contradiction, before God created anything Jesus existed (Jn 8-58). Cults apparently consider themselves to have enough wiggle-room to make the word “Godhead” mean something else. No matter how hard we try, we cannot talk them from their beliefs, so the only valid reason we should debate them is to protect the gospel for the sake of those who would believe in Jesus for eternal life. (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God -- This verse goes with verses 4-12 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 17-25 (164h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at enmity with God >> The world does not know God – Jesus made a huge distinction between Himself and the world, saying that the world does not know God, but most unbelievers deny this. Talk to just about anybody who makes no claim to godliness and he will probably say that he knows God or that all people are His children, but Jesus was very candid about the world not knowing Him. If any question remains about the world’s relation to God, it is answered in that they cannot relate to Him at all. The definition of the Church knowing God is this: We have come to understand by revelation that the Father sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. Jesus is speaking about this in terms of the Spirit of God who dwells in us giving the revelation, but if the Holy Spirit does not dwell in us, then we do not belong to Him (Rom 8-9). This is the basis of all knowledge from God. (175m) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Ignorant of God – This is one of the great statements of the Bible; Jesus declared that the world does not know God. This should not come as a surprise, since the world doesn’t act like it knows God, yet it is surprising in lieu of what some people say about Him. The evangelist hears one of three responses from people he is trying to reach with the gospel: outright rejection, a statement of genuine faith, or a claim to a foreign faith. Many claim to have a relationship with God based on terms they have established for themselves, so they can continue in their lifestyle of choice while attempting to preserve their conscience, and they expect God to accept their terms. On the contrary, God has established His own covenant with mankind and He expects us to have a relationship with Him based on that covenant, but the world is not interested in His terms. In fact, most people don’t want a relationship with God at all; the honest ones will admit it. God’s covenant has within it the right to become the children of God. Some say they are already the children of God; in fact, Paul even said this in Act 17-29 to the people on Mar’s Hill, calling them the offspring of God, but in order to go to heaven we must be born-again. Jesus taught it as a mystery; he never explained how to do it for good reason, since man would have immediately turned it into a formula and every religion is a formulas. If there were a formula, it would be to commit our lives to his cause; this is the condition that God will imbue His Spirit. When we make knowing God our life’s goal, we are automatically born-again, because we are now ready to do His will. (209b) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Counterfeit relationship through religion >> Knowing about God, but not knowing God – After Jesus said that the world does not know God, He said, “Yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.” Note that Jesus didn’t say His disciples knew God. It was apparent through their words and actions that they hadn’t yet come to know Him. His Son stood in front of them, and it didn’t exactly seem to help. They loved the Lord, which indicated that they loved His Father too. God instills His Spirit in us so we can come to know His will. There are three reasons God causes His Spirit to dwell in us: (1) that we might become the children of God; (2) that we might come to know His will; (3) that we might do His will. Before the day of Pentecost the disciples were born-again at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but they still didn't know God's plan. Then, after Pentecost God gave them an anointing to understand God's plan and purpose, and just as importantly to complete it. The indwelling Holy Spirit is not the anointing, but is the seed by which the anointing sprouts. The anointing acts as a covering to our outward form. The critical thing the disciples knew about Jesus was that His Father sent Him, and the implication of this is the realization that He was the Son of God. They knew this in their hearts, but they didn't spiritually know it until the anointing of Pentecost. (231e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Revelation of Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom >> Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom -- This verse goes with verses 6-8 Jn 17-26 (67g) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> The name of Jesus is the salvation of God -- This verse goes with verse 6 (136i) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Body of Christ is the Church -- This verse goes with verses 22&23 (254j) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Salvation of Jesus’ Spirit – The love of God that Jesus is elucidating is the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is adept at revealing the love of God; not even Jesus communicated to His disciples like the Holy Spirit, such as when Jesus said to Peter after he confessed the Lord to be the Son of God, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Mat 16-17). The Father lives in us through the Spirit, and Jesus is the physical manifestation of Him, meaning the Holy Spirit is no different from Christ. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in His place because He has a better ministry than Christ, for He is the Spirit of the Father. See next page