Jesus' Last Prayer part 5
Praise God for the joy of being set apart for His use.
Praise Him for the joy of not knowing what we don’t need to know, and for the joy of knowing what we do, and for His perfect timing in all of it!
#230 Jesus' Last Prayer and the Joy that Prayer Imparts John 17 #5
As Jesus prayed he was keenly aware of his spiritual identity and stand, and that of his followers, and how different that stand was in the face of society and government based on greed, alienated from God.
They are not out of the world, as I am not out of the world. Verse 16
There is great joy in being separate from the world and living in harmony with God. “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:29-30
There is great joy in having fellowship with others of the same mind. “May the God who inspires men to endure, and gives them a Father’s care, give you a mind united towards one another because of your common loyalty to Jesus Christ. (Phillips) that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NASB) So open your hearts to one another as Christ has opened his heart to you, and God will be glorified. (Phillips) Romans 15:5-7
He knew that it was the truth from God that would separate us and keep us separate from the world. The principles and holy reasoning of the Father would make his followers holy for His use. And so he prayed:
Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth. Verse 17
There is great joy in the gradual process of growing in knowledge and being sanctified by it….
We share a similar gradual revealing of truth as Jesus did.
Thus he was allowed to grow in knowledge; and thus, too, he was spared the sad spectacle of subsequent trouble which also lay along the pathway of the divine plan. Thus, while he joyfully worked out the grand plan of creation (John 1:3; Prov. 8:22-31), he probably knew nothing of God's purpose for the subsequent permission of evil and the necessity for the great work of redemption. Before he came to that test of faith in God his confidence in His almighty power, wisdom and love had been firmly established by the experiences of the past.
For centuries he had seen His mighty works, marked His wondrous wisdom and experienced His tender love. Could he doubt Him, then, when another feature of His plan made manifest the great work of redemption and restitution, and gave to him the privilege of undertaking this work also, for the joy that the Father set before him? No; doubtless he did not at first realize the depths of humiliation and sorrow through which he must pass; but, step by step, along the painful way of humiliation and suffering, his faith in the Father, founded upon his previous experimental knowledge, sustained him, as it is written--"By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." --Isa. 53:11. R3160
There is great joy in not knowing what we are not yet ready to know. “I know not what awaits me; God kindly veils my eyes.” “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot not bear them now.” John 16:12
There is great joy in knowing what we need to know when we need to know it. “But the helper, the holy spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26
Praise Him for the joy of not knowing what we don’t need to know, and for the joy of knowing what we do, and for His perfect timing in all of it!
#230 Jesus' Last Prayer and the Joy that Prayer Imparts John 17 #5
As Jesus prayed he was keenly aware of his spiritual identity and stand, and that of his followers, and how different that stand was in the face of society and government based on greed, alienated from God.
They are not out of the world, as I am not out of the world. Verse 16
There is great joy in being separate from the world and living in harmony with God. “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:29-30
There is great joy in having fellowship with others of the same mind. “May the God who inspires men to endure, and gives them a Father’s care, give you a mind united towards one another because of your common loyalty to Jesus Christ. (Phillips) that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NASB) So open your hearts to one another as Christ has opened his heart to you, and God will be glorified. (Phillips) Romans 15:5-7
He knew that it was the truth from God that would separate us and keep us separate from the world. The principles and holy reasoning of the Father would make his followers holy for His use. And so he prayed:
Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth. Verse 17
There is great joy in the gradual process of growing in knowledge and being sanctified by it….
We share a similar gradual revealing of truth as Jesus did.
Thus he was allowed to grow in knowledge; and thus, too, he was spared the sad spectacle of subsequent trouble which also lay along the pathway of the divine plan. Thus, while he joyfully worked out the grand plan of creation (John 1:3; Prov. 8:22-31), he probably knew nothing of God's purpose for the subsequent permission of evil and the necessity for the great work of redemption. Before he came to that test of faith in God his confidence in His almighty power, wisdom and love had been firmly established by the experiences of the past.
For centuries he had seen His mighty works, marked His wondrous wisdom and experienced His tender love. Could he doubt Him, then, when another feature of His plan made manifest the great work of redemption and restitution, and gave to him the privilege of undertaking this work also, for the joy that the Father set before him? No; doubtless he did not at first realize the depths of humiliation and sorrow through which he must pass; but, step by step, along the painful way of humiliation and suffering, his faith in the Father, founded upon his previous experimental knowledge, sustained him, as it is written--"By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." --Isa. 53:11. R3160
There is great joy in not knowing what we are not yet ready to know. “I know not what awaits me; God kindly veils my eyes.” “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot not bear them now.” John 16:12
There is great joy in knowing what we need to know when we need to know it. “But the helper, the holy spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26
