John 17
"What Jesus Wants His Church To Be "

Gospelcom Bible Gateway

" ¹ Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ²as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. ⁶ "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. ⁹"I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,that they may be one as We are. ¹²While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. ²⁰ "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²²And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. ²⁴"Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

INTRODUCTION:

A. Church can sometimes become a place where participation is minimal, perceptions are unreasonable and worship invisible.

B. Is church cold, uncaring and irrelevant in your life or it is vibrant, alive and your family?

C. In John 17 we have the longest recorded prayer of our Lord as He looks to the future and is passing the torch on to His disciples.

D. Notice the insight that we get of what Jesus wants His church to be

1. The church should radiate the glory of God,

2. The church should reveal the truth of God

3. The church should rescue the enemies of God

4. The church should rally around the love of God

E. Today we will look at the first two in this two part series.

I. The church should radiate the glory of God

A. Eight times the word glory or glorified appears

1. Sounds "churchy" doesn't it

2. What does it mean then

a. Glory (doxa) speaks of the visible expression of God ( the outward WOW!!!) stunning, bright ,rapturous, light, WOW.

b. Glory can also mean the valued attention toward God

c. To have a good opinion of or to make renowned or valuable

B. So what is the primary purpose of the church? TO GLORIFY GOD (doxazo)

1. Upreach, Inreach, Outreach

2. God is pointed to

3. God is given attention to

4. God is made renown

5. peoples opinion of God is made better through our lifestyles

C. Our hearts want to satisfy ourselves rather than our creator.

D. We live in a "Me" generation and we need to be a "He" generation

e. What helps us to do this?

1. Worship - Rev 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."

2. To know God and to Glorify Him forever

II. The church should reveal the truth of God

A. You might ask, "Why is it the same every week we come to church?"

1. Matthew 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.¹⁸And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go therefore^[3] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

2. All the early churches have a common element, they all teach the Word of God.

3. Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴³Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.⁴⁶So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

II. What happens when you do these things?

A. Joy (13)

B. Holiness (15ff) hagiadzo - to sanctify to be made holy

APPLICATION:

1.Look at your life and find those areas that are not radiate the glory of God and change them

2. Read the Scriptures to understand God's principle so that you may be in the world to radiate the glory of God.

MEMORY VERSE FOR THIS WEEK

John 17:1-4

^"1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ²as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ^"