Gospel of John #24

The Real Lord's Prayer
(John 17)

Fred R. Coulter—May 17, 1986

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I think that in order for us to understand about John 17, that this is a fantastic portion of the book of John and really one of the most inspiring when you understand it, realize that the Holy Spirit recalled to John the very words of Jesus in His last prayer.

This is the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Let's understand that Jesus knew that this was it; He knew that the end had come. He knew that this was going to be the most terrible and trying time that He ever had in His life.

He went out to pray for approximately three hours, and He prayed the same words; not that it was vain repetition. Believe me, that was not! He came back and found the disciples sleeping, except John. John was the only apostle who stuck with Him through the crucifixion. All the other apostles had gone off someplace hiding. John was there! John also observed the prayer that Jesus prayed.

Luke 22:39[transcriber's correction]: "Then He left the house and went, as He was accustomed, to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him. And when He arrived at the place, He said to them, 'Pray that you do not enter into temptation.' And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw; and falling to His knees, He prayed, saying, 'Father, if You are willing to take away this cup from Me…'" (vs 39-42). That's all they remembered before they went to sleep.

• Was Jesus looking forward to the crucifixion?
• Just of Himself did He understand what it would result in once it was done?
• Yes!

But it was difficult for Him. Remember, He had human nature.

"'…nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done.' Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And after rising up from prayer, He came to His disciples and found them sleeping for grief" (vs 42-45).

The other accounts show that Jesus left the disciples and took with Him Peter and John. Peter went to sleep. John didn't go to sleep. Therefore, God inspired John to remember the words that Jesus prayed. Can you imagine how absolutely inspired that John must have felt when he started recording this prayer, writing this prayer down for us, and years after the event took place.

Does God, or did Jesus do what He commanded us to do? In other words, if Jesus did something, or God did something, or God gave a commandment, does God live by His own word? Yes, He does! The reason I want to read this is we're going to make an outline of John 17 before we get there. We're going to see that all the elements of how to pray are in John 17. Every one of those elements are there.

Matthew 6:9, Jesus said: "Therefore, you are to pray after this manner: 'Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.'" Isn't that what Jesus started out with? Yes, He did!

Verse 10: "Your kingdom come…" We're going to see that He talked about the coming kingdom. We're going to see also that He talked about it was with God the Father and Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God before He came to the earth.

"…Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven" (v 10). We're going to see that the whole prayer is about God's will, about God doing His will on earth to those who have been called and belong to Christ.

Verse 11: "Give us this day our daily bread." What are we to get along on every day? Spiritual food! This ties in with that part of John. {note John 17:6-10} The spiritual food is that we're to be kept in the Father's name. How are kept in the Father's name? We live by every word of God! We eat and drink Christ! It's not just on the Passover.

John 6:35: "Jesus said to them, 'I AM the Bread of Life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time.'"

That's the spiritual food that we are to have day by day!

Matthew 6:12: "And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." What does God promise when we come to Him confessing our sins? kept in the name of Jesus? Our sins will be forgiven! {note John 17:11-18}.

Verse 13: "And lead us not into temptation but rescue us from the evil one…." Didn't Jesus pray for that for us? Sanctified through the Truth of God, and we are kept from the evil one!

"…For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (v 13). {Note John 17:19-26} If you want to have a very interesting Bible study, take Matt. 6:9-13 and study some of the Psalms, and you will see the same elements in the Psalms—the prayers of the Psalms—that Jesus said on how to pray.

The point I want to make is that Jesus prayed according to the way that He instructed us to pray, exactly. God doesn't tell us one thing to do and then He Himself does something else. He lives by what He teaches. "…For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." We'll see that He talks about the glory and becoming as one in the Kingdom of God.

John 17:1: "Jesus spoke these words, and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your own Son, so that Your Son may also glorify You." Indeed, that is absolutely glorious what God has done. It is absolutely marvelous what God has done.

Verse 2: "Since You have given Him authority over all flesh…" Power comes from the Greek word 'exousia' that means "…authority over all flesh…" I had some time ago that God uses evil as correction. God uses that against the flesh. He has power over all flesh. Why then can people think that they can come to God through any other means? Christ is the only one! He has power over all flesh, authority over all flesh!

"…in order that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him" (v 2). Jesus is the One Who makes the judgment. Since He has authority over all flesh, He says:

John 5:22: "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son." Jesus Christ alone has the power of life and death over all human beings.

Verse 27: "And has also given Him authority ['exousia'] to execute judgment…" There is judging, which is the process of coming to a judgment. But Christ has been given the power to execute that judgment, bring it to pass. He's going to execute the judgment of eternal life to those who are His. To the wicked He is going to execute the judgment of the second death. He alone will do that!

Remember the last thing that Jesus told His disciples before He ascended into heaven? All power, authority, is given unto Me in heaven and in earth! When we come to Rom. 14 I'm sure that we can understand why a church can be destroyed because of judging. What happens? We've all experienced what happens! When you sit in judge your brother's or sister's heart—they may have sinned and done things that weren't right—you're sitting in the seat of God! You're taking the prerogative that God the Father has given to Jesus Christ.

That's why we need to re-establish within our group—which we have—that Christ is over every one of us. There's no one between us and Christ. There's no one over us in Christ, to cut us off from God to lead us astray.

Romans 14:10: "Now then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… [He has been given the authority to exercise judgment] …because it is written, '"For as I live," says the Lord, "every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God."'" (vs 10-11).

If we all lived by that and realize that we're all going to give account before God, we're not to sit back and judge anybody. Listen, if you're

• truly seeking to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being
• truly seeking to love the brethren as Christ loves us
• to love your neighbor as you love yourself
• to put yourself under the grace of God

that takes care of all judgment! It takes care of a lot of the nit-picking and back-stabbing. There is a balance.

It says in John 5 that if you see a brother sin a sin not unto death you shall pray for him, which also means that you go talk to him about it. If he hears you—Matt. 18—you've gained a brother. If he won't hear you then you bring one or two witnesses, and if that doesn't work then you tell it to the Church. If that doesn't work then he's counted as a heathen and publican. There's a balance in this sort of thing, but I'm talking about the kind of judgment that destroys people's lives through gossip, through interfering through cliquishness and exaltation of the ministry over lay members, or lay members over the ministry—it works both ways. God is going to do that kind of judging .

In order to get along with each other and have things function smoothly, then if there's something that needs to be discussed, we need to discuss it. If there's something that is wrong we need to find out what is wrong and do the things that will help correct it. But without destroying the person.

It's very easy to get confused in that area, because I've seen ministers take advantage of 'you shall not judge the minister' and they use that as a club over the head of the people and beat them up with judgment. All of these things have to be taken in balance. What I'm trying to show here is that Christ is the authority over all flesh for judgment. Whatever happens in the world Christ knows what's happening.

• Doesn't God know if a sparrow falls? Yes, He does!
• Doesn't God have the seven spirits go to and fro across the face of the Earth to know what's going on? Yes!
• How is God able to judge the sinner in his sin if God doesn't know when they're sinning?
• He's not participating in their sin, but He knows when they're sinning!

This is what I'm talking about here. God isn't going to let anyone get away with anything, ultimately. Jesus said, 'By your words you shall be judged and condemned.' and 'In that day everything spoken in secret shall be shouted from the housetops.' You have to take all of these things in their proper perspective, so when we emphasize one thing at one time that doesn't mean that we are denigrating, eliminating or casting aside something else that balances it out.

Romans 2:16: "In a day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel." God is not only going to judge the acts, He's going to judge the thoughts, the secrets and I tell you there's going to be an awful lot of repenting that's going to have to be done. Consider that second resurrection. There are going to be some people even at the second resurrection that won't admit—will not repent—just won't do it.

Just like there are a lot of people today smoking, chewing, committing adultery, all this sort of thing. Do they know that those things are going to result in problems and difficulties? Sure! But they don't think it will happen to them, so that's why there are people who are going to be cast into the Lake of Fire. They won't repent!

I'm not so convinced that it's going to be all that easy in the second resurrection. I don't know how easy it's going to be, we'll have to leave that up to God. What happens when a person gets old and dies determined in their sin? They are right! In prisons not one of them are in there because of something they have done. Do you think that attitude will necessarily change at the second resurrection? Maybe, I don't know! But it depends on their own conscious choice whether they're going to repent or not.

John 17:2: "Since You have given Him authority over all flesh, in order that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him." That's a tremendous promise; it's a very encouraging thing! God is going to give us eternal life if we are truly in Christ.

Verse 3: "For this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God…" That's something! Can you imagine what it's going to be like to know God the Father; to know Him! That is mind-boggling; just think on that for a minute. What is it going to be like to know God the Father.

We know each other here pretty well. I can't say that we're totally intimately acquainted with everything that our lives are all about. I'm sure that is also a true statement, but we know each other very well and love each other. But think what it's going to be like to know God the Father and: "… the only true God and Jesus Christ, Whom You did send" (v 3). We can rehearse all kinds of Scriptures:

• we are the children of God
• we will see like He is
• we will be glorified as the stars shine
• the righteous will shine

That is going to be an absolutely wonderful and marvelous thing. I tell you what, if you look forward to a fantastic and wonderful meal, just think what the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to be like. I don't know how to describe it to you, but I fully believe that the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to take place on the Sea of Glass. I know one thing, we won't be out in the kitchen.

I think the angels are going to wait on us. Weren't they created to minister to those who are heirs of salvation? Yes! I wonder what that banquet table is going to be like; sitting down at that banquet table and here are the angels bringing the food? I wonder what spiritual food tastes like? I wonder what it's going to be like to taste food with a spiritual palate? That's going to be incredible!

Don't you think that God is going to give the best for the firstfruits? That wedding ceremony is going to be absolutely something! If you think that the ceremony between the God of Israel, the One Who became Jesus Christ—all the events that took place at Mt. Sinai and that covenant where all the people said 'yes, we will obey Your voice; yes, we will do what you say' and that was a glorious event—just think what it's going to be like at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I tell you, I'm looking forward to that!

Verse 4: "I have glorified You on the earth…." God was glorified on the earth through Jesus Christ having 'the law of sin and death' within His members and never sinning; being absolutely perfect. He glorified God, glorified His laws, did everything that God said. We can go back and look at all the Scriptures where Jesus said, 'I have come not to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me.' and 'I always do those things that please God.' You just add those all together and bring it into this verse.

"…I have finished the work that You gave Me to do" (v 4). That's quite a statement! All the work that God gave Him to do He finished it.

Verse 5: "And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed." We've gone through about the sacrifice of Christ before the world was. At that point I imagine that Jesus Christ was really just projecting forward to that, remembering that glory that He had. What a tremendous thing it was with God the Father and Jesus Christ together in harmony, in love as one, and that fantastic glory that He had before the world was.

I imagine that when Jesus was praying this prayer, I'm sure that He would have thoughts and concepts of:

• creating the Earth
• creating Adam and Eve
• knowing everything that He went through
• knowing that He was dying for the sins of the world
• knowing He was going to be arrested and crucified

all these things crushing in on Him. What did He do in His darkest hour? This was His darkest hour! I mean, for Christ to say, 'Father, if You be willing remove this cup from Me,' that has got to be His darkest hour! What did He look to? It gives us a good understanding of what we need to do if we get depressed. He got His mind on God, on the plan of God, and what God was doing! How that God would not forsake Him, God would not leave Him!

Verse 6: "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world…." Remember that when He chose them He prayed all night. He asked 'Which one, Lord, do You want.' Then He selected them and ordained them.

"…They were Yours…" (v 6). How much do you think that Jesus Christ is going to guard that which belongs to God the Father? He's going to be pretty particular with it—isn't He? You bet He is!

"…and You have given them to Me, and they have kept Your Word. Now, they have known that all things that You have given Me are from You" (s 6-7). He couldn't say that until this time. The convincing belief that they had was solidified when they received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. I imagine also during that 40 days that they saw Him, before He ascended into heaven, that must have been quite a time.

• I wonder what it was like?
• I wonder what Jesus did?

Doesn't tell us and we can't go back and reconstruct it, but we can just imagine is the best we can do.

Verse 8: "For I have given them the words that You gave to Me; and they have received them and truly have known that I came from You; and they have believed that You did send Me." We cannot emphasize this enough.

John 6:27: "'Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give to you; for Him has God the Father sealed.' Therefore, they said to Him, 'What shall we do, in order that we ourselves may do the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God: that you believe in Him Whom He has sent'" (vs 27-29).

In other words, believing all there is about Jesus Christ. That is the work of God! No other work of God can be done. That's why all the miracles: casting out demons, healing the sick in the name of Jesus (Matt. 7:21) that aren't going to be in the Kingdom of God because they really do not believe on Jesus the way that John is trying to tell us. I think we are just beginning to understand that now. We need to emphasize that and go back to that constantly. That's where, brethren, the spiritual strength, power and faith is going to come from! It's not going to come from hours of prayer. It's not going to come from dedicating yourself to a monastery, becoming celibate or being a virgin, whatever. It is going to come from that absolute belief in Jesus Christ! Nothing else!

In my own mind, it's hard to really describe what I feel and think when I say that, but I'm beginning to understand more what it means to believe in Jesus Christ! You can't have a 'religion' on Sunday, Saturday or Friday. You must live by Christ, and believe! When we do that, then we can bear whatever God allows to come upon us; we can bear it! That's the fantastic thing about it. If we do then the grace of God is upon us, and that is so fantastic!

John 17:9: "I am praying for them…" Tie in 1-John 2:1-2, that we have an advocate in Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is advocating for us. He is praying for us.

How many times have you asked someone to pray for you? I've asked people to pray for me. We should pray for one another, that's true. I'm not trying to downgrade that or minimize that at all. We need to pray for each other! But what is the greatest prayer? Christ praying for us!

I don't know about you, but in going through this, it has really just uplifted me and given me more courage and confidence than ever before to know that Christ is praying for His people! That's a marvelous thing! Christ is praying for you! Tie that in with the prayer, 'Give us this day our daily bread'; we're going to God every day. Christ is advocating for us every day! You talk about an act of grace. We didn't earn it! We didn't deserve it!

You talk about an act of grace. Christ is there advocating for us. I tell you, that ought to give us a whole lot of confidence and courage and faith. Just don't be depressed or downcast or whatever. With that, brethren, we can understand what it means that there's nothing that is going to separate us from the love of God. Christ is doing that for us.

"…I am not praying for the world…" (v 9). There are a lot of religionists praying for the world. There was a minister that said that God was weak, that God needed our help and God was weak in the face of evil; 'God hasn't even started to set His hand to the world except to administer what is necessary in the first part of His plan. He isn't praying for the world.' That's quite a statement—isn't it? The Creator is NOT praying for the world! That's something!

When I read that I don't even think that sunk into my skull deep enough, yet. But He is praying for us to ensure that we will receive eternal life! That is marvelous, brethren! I feel it in my mind and heart, but to really express it, I'm sure only Christ can.

"…but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them" (vs 9-10). Brethren, if we have that belief and God's Spirit in us—the Spirit of Christ, the hope of glory—God is glorified in us, and will be more in the resurrection.

Verse 11: "And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one." Not yet, but we are one with God through His Spirit; that is the earnest toward our inheritance and salvation. That we "…may be one, even as We are one."

What is the name of God? Holy Father! We have been brought into a family relationship with God. We're kept in His name—Father! What did Jesus call Him? Father! Is there any record in the New Testament of Jesus using a so-called sacred name? No, there isn't! What is the name? The Father! That is the name.

In Hebrew, the name for father is 'ab.' And a familiarization of that is transliterated in Rom. 8 where we cry 'Abba, Father.' It's interesting that the words 'ab, abba, abbi,' guess which word that is in the listing of the Hebrew words? The very first word listed in the Hebrew dictionary of Hebrew words used in the Old Testament! I thought that was absolutely marvelous.

You can't have a greater name to call God than Father. That means that you have been brought into this special relationship with God. Who is advocating for us? Jesus Christ. Remember John 16 where it says that God the Father Himself will answer you because He loves you. That is something! We are kept! Do you think God the Father answers the prayer of Jesus? Yes, He does! What does Jesus say? Father, I thank You because You always hear Me! (John 11). This prayer, brethren, is being actively carried on to this day, this minute, right now and will be forever!

(go to the next track)

Verse 12: "When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name…."—preserved, guarded. How powerful is the name Holy Father? Maybe this will help us understand why it is such a blasphemous thing to call any man on earth your father like the pope is and the Catholic priests. When you sit down and really think about it, how deceived has Satan got those people that they will actually believe that? That is something! That's what Satan does, he takes the simple Truths of God and turns them into his own use for such a blasphemous thing.

"…I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition…" (v 12). I'm not going to go into a whole dissertation on whether Judas Iscariot is saved or lost, or whether he's going to be in the second resurrection, or whether his repentance and suicide atoned for his sin, whatever. It says that 'he was lost.' Can God take and create one individual just for that purpose? And that's the extent for that individual? Yes, He can! Whatever the judgment is, let it be in God's hands. Who has power over all flesh and who has been given all judgment? Jesus Christ has!

"…in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You; and these things I am speaking while yet in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in them" (s 12-13).

What did He look to facing the crucifixion? The joy of eternal life! Remember where it says that we are looking to Jesus Christ Who is the Author and Finisher of our salvation! (Heb. 12). Who for the joy that was set before Him endured such contradiction of sinners unto the crucifixion that we might have eternal life.

Remember after all the sorrow that we went through, we asked: Where is the joy in being a Christian, this is miserable? Do you know why we didn't have the joy of Christ? We didn't deeply believe in Him the way that we should! I think that God is giving us some of the joy of His salvation. I tell you one thing, I enjoy coming to church; I know that I can come and know that no one is backbiting me and gossiping and tattling and running here and there. I know that we all love each other, which is great and marvelous, and I know that we love God. When we get together it is joyous! I'm beginning to see that this is carrying over more into the daily activities.

Instead of having all the sorrow and difficulties that we have gone through, instead of having fear 'beating us over the head,' instead of having a ministry coming around like super-snoopers and spies and be all fearful. God has saved us from that!

If the Feast of Pentecost pictures—which it does—the marriage of Christ and the Lamb and They are going to rejoice; let's really rejoice in this and have the joy of the Lord! Remember that Jesus said when we inherit eternal life and are faithful, 'Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.' That's exciting!

Verse 14: "I have given them Your words, and the world has hated them…" I tell you what, I think we're finding more and more that that's the way it is. Not that we're going out and deliberately provoking something, but when the chips are down the world will hate us.

"…because they are not of the world…" (v 14). We're not to be of the world, part of the world, the way that the world is. We're called out of the world.

"…just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world…" (v 14-15). There are times that we wished we were taken out of the world. There is a Psalm and a hymn about that: Oh that I had the wings of some swift dove to fly off to a mountain alone and away from the sinners and the misery! I tell you what, if God put us in orbit, guess what? There would be a satellite to meet us there, some manned thing up there!

"…but that You would keep them from the evil one" (v 15). Ties right in with Matt. 6. Pray that you enter not into temptation. If we're in the grace of God and we see a temptation coming along and we cry out to God, He'll rescue us from it; He really will! "…keep them from the evil one" is a tremendous promise, absolute promise!

I think that when we really understand at the resurrection, what God has done for us, we'll understand how well this prayer has been answered, that we have been kept "…from the evil one."

Verse 16: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is the Truth" (vs 16-17). {note sermons on sanctification—cbcg.org}

There are many, many different things that we can add to this. Jesus said that 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' If we're sanctified through the Truth, we're sanctified through Jesus. He also said, 'Your Word is Truth,' but Who is also called the Word of God? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God! So, if His Word is Truth and Jesus is Truth, you see how all that fits together in a just round sphere of understanding? And it's all true!

Verse 18: "Even as You did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they also may be sanctified in Your Truth" (vs 18-19)—made Holy!

Jesus said as they were going out to the Garden of Gethsemane (John 15)? Now you are clean through the words that I have spoken! That sanctifies us!

Verse 20: "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word." It's a continual prayer, an ongoing prayer. That's why John was inspired to write this and put it down here. We can have no greater source of comfort, especially in time of trial and need, than John 17; absolutely none! If it comforted Jesus Christ before the crucifixion, don't you think it will comfort us in our hour and time of need? Yes!

Verse 21: "That they all may be one…" to become one. The Passover and Day of Atonement kind of overlap here. Be at one, truly at one. Right now we're at one with God through His Spirit, but that's only a portion.

"…even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…" (v 21). I don't know how anyone can say that we're not going to be the sons of God. I just cannot understand that. But some do; anybody can say anything, but whether it's true before God is another question.

"…in order that the world may believe that You did send Me" (v 21). They don't believe now, but they will believe when Christ returns and we're resurrected. Will they ever believe? They will believe unto repentance, or believe unto death! They will believe to be saved, or they will resist it and believe unto death; they will die! Read Zech. 14 about those who don't come and keep the Feast of Tabernacles; the nations that are far off He will 'beat them over the head' until they start doing away with their implements of war, etc.

Verse 22: "And I have given them the glory that You gave to Me… [not yet, partially; but it's coming] …in order that they may be one, in the same way that We are one." How on earth can we run the universe if we are not one with God? It's the only way it's going to be!

In the book by John Newman—showing his ideal of the universe, the way that it is made is about as close as we can come to a graphic description of what the universe is like. I tell you, every time you watch television down through the years and you see programs on the stars and planets, almost every year they have so many new things that they learn about the universe. They don't understand and are completely lost in the deluge of information that they are learning. Just think! We're going to be at one with the great Creator Who has made all of that; one with the Father and Jesus Christ.

Verse 23: "I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one…" That shows the process of conversion, the process that takes place, and the final process that is going to happen is the resurrection. At the resurrection we're just ready to start. That's going to be something!

"…and that the world may know that You did send Me… [that's when they will know] …and have loved them as You have loved Me" (v 23). That's how God the Father loves us, as He loved Jesus Christ!

Remember when Jesus went up on the Mt. of Transfiguration with the vision? What was the voice that came out and said that this is 'My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased'? God the Father loves us like that! When we really grasp it, and we sit here with God's Spirit, we're all united together feeling the same thing, it makes you wonder how anyone can give up on God?

Verse 24: "Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; because You did love Me before the foundation of the world." That is going to be an absolutely marvelous thing to be there and see Christ in His glory, and see God the Father and all of the sons of God together in their glory with all the Holy angels of God gathered around. Talk about a song fest!

Verse 25: "Righteous Father, the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You did send Me. And I have made known Your name to them, and will make it known; so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (v 25-26).

When Jesus prayed this prayer just before He was arrested, what a tremendously inspiring prayer.

• He kept His mind on the goal!
• He kept His mind on the purpose as to why He was here!
• He kept His mind on the purpose of His coming!
• He kept His mind on the purpose of calling us!

That's really tremendously encouraging!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• Luke 22:39-45
• Matthew 6:9-11
• John 6:35
• Matthew 6:12-13
• John 17:1-2
• John 5:22, 27
• Romans 14:10-11
• Romans 2:16
• John 17:2-8
• John 6:27-29
• John 17:9-26

Scripture referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 18; 7:21
• 1 John 2:1-2
• Romans 8
• John 16; 11
• Hebrews 12
• John 15
• Zechariah 14

FRC:bo
Transcribed:12-29-14