WWUTT 983 Sanctify Them In Your Truth?

We come to unity in the body of Christ through the Word of God.

It is His Word that sanctifies us and draws us closer and closer to one another as we draw closer to Jesus when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text studying God's Word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We come back again to our study of John 17,

Jesus' high priestly prayer for His disciples. I'm going to begin reading in verse 13 to the end of the chapter.

Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples, but now I am coming to you, and these things

I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I 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.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sake

I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you,

Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

We've already heard Jesus pray for the unity of his disciples that we, yes, we,

I was going to say they, but we, we who are followers of Christ, we've already heard him pray that we would be one, and he comes back to that request again.

So yesterday we looked at verse 11. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we, the

Father and the Son, are one. Verse 12, while I was with them,

I kept them in your name. It is Christ who gives us unity, and we receive that unity, we have that unity within the church when we are close to Christ.

I have kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the

Son of Destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Jesus always knew that Judas' heart was for himself.

It was not for Christ. This wasn't a matter of Judas following Jesus for a time, but then falling away.

No, he never had a heart that was after Christ. Going all the way back to John 6, when

Jesus said to the disciples who were following him, he said, unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

And the people said, this is such a difficult teaching, who can receive this? And hundreds of disciples turned and walked away.

Jesus looked at the 12 and said, how about you? Are you going to walk away as well? And Peter replied,

Lord, where else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And Jesus said, oh yeah, well, one of you is a devil.

And that was a reference to Judas. So if Jesus always knew that Judas' heart was against him, why did he call him in the first place?

Well, it says right here in verse 12, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Going back to Psalm 41 .9,

even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

And we know that was a prophecy concerning Judas, for we saw it fulfilled in John 13, 18.

Jesus said, I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled.

He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. In Zechariah chapter 11, it's even prophesied that Jesus is going to be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.

And once Judas realizes that he betrayed the son of man, he would throw the silver back on the temple floor.

It even says that in Zechariah 11 .13, then the Lord said to me, throw it to the potter, the lordly price at which

I was priced by them. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the

Lord to the potter. What was the name of the field that was purchased with the money that Judas gave back once he realized that he had betrayed the son of man?

What was the name of the field? It was the potter's field. When you look at prophecy that was made in the

Old Testament and you look at the way that it was fulfilled in Christ, it's remarkable. It is absolutely incredible that God had worked all of these things to bring about the crucifixion of his own son for the atonement of sins, that we might be the people of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

And Jesus even called a son of destruction to follow him for the purpose of the scriptures being fulfilled, that he would be arrested and turned over to the authorities to be tried, beaten, put to death, all for the sovereign plan of God to bring about the atonement of his children.

As it says in Proverbs 16, for the Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Judas was called exactly for this reason. Now, lest anyone read this and think,

OK, coming back again to verse 12, where Jesus said, I have guarded them, not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Lest anybody think, well, what if I'm a son of destruction? What if Jesus has called me for the purpose of of me being the wicked for the day of trouble, that his power might be shown in judging me for my wickedness?

What if that's the reason why he's called me to show his power and judgment upon me instead of delivering me by his mercy?

That's not the way to understand this passage. It's not the way to understand verse 12. This is only about Judas.

When he talks about the son of destruction, that's only Judas. Jesus doesn't call people to himself to become his followers so that the that he can then destroy them.

He explained this already back in John 10. My sheep know my voice.

They follow me. I give them eternal life and no one is able to snatch them out of my hand.

My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all.

And no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are one.

So we have come into the hand of Christ to receive deliverance out of this world, forgiveness of sins and salvation from death.

So if he's given us that salvation, he's not going to dump us back into that. That would go against the promises of God.

And God is not going to contradict himself. So in this particular instance, when we read about Judas being called, he was not being called to salvation.

He was being called that the scripture might be fulfilled. And this was about Judas. It's not about you.

Do not fear, believer, that you are following Jesus for a time, but then he's going to use you to destroy you.

Do not fear in that. He has already given us a promise of assurance that if we know his voice and follow him, no one is able to snatch us out of his hand.

And saying there even in John 10, because I and the father are one, just as I and the father are one.

So the disciples of Christ are one with him. And so we may be one with one another.

And that's why Jesus makes that statement about I and the father being one. May they be one just as we are one so that the unity of the

Trinity may also be displayed in the body of Christ, though we are many parts.

We are one body joined to the head who is Christ. And as we're growing in sanctification, as we grow in holiness, we become less and less like the sinful man or woman that we were and more and more like the holy ones who are followers of Jesus Christ.

As that growth in sanctification is taking place, we are growing closer and closer with one another.

And by the way, this can only happen. This only happens in your church. It doesn't happen by going to church on the

Internet or listening to sermons, though there are certainly some wonderful, beneficial things about that.

I mean, you're listening to this podcast to further your knowledge and understanding of the scriptures, to hear someone read to you the

Bible unless you are sitting at your counter, your table or something like that. And you have the Bible open in front of you and you're following along with me in the text.

Maybe you're working in the kitchen or driving in the car or doing something like that while I am reading to you. But you have tuned into a podcast like this to receive a spiritual feeding from the word of God.

And that's certainly wonderful. That is that is certainly beneficial that we have this medium of the

Internet available to us to be able to do that. But as far as the portion of your sanctification is concerned, where you are growing in unity with members of the body of Christ, that can only happen in your church.

It only happens in the place where you worship with other believers so that you may show love to them and they may show love to you.

You are growing in unity when you meet with the body of Christ. You can you can certainly grow in your knowledge of God in the scriptures that you read and apply and grow in holiness, putting off less of the world and putting on more of the kingdom.

Certainly those things are beneficial. But when it comes to growing in love for one another, which must be part of our sanctification, you can only do that with the body of Christ.

It only happens in your church with actual flesh and blood people of God, not just virtually online chatting with people on Twitter or in the

YouTube comment section or something like that. We we must be in fellowship with his body lest we be separated from the head and are not actually part of the body of Christ.

If we're not part of the body, we're also not part of Christ. So Jesus, again, praying for his disciples to be one, just as the father, son and the

Holy Spirit are one, one God, three persons, one

God. But the unity that exists in the Trinity may also be in the body of Christ as we become imitators of Christ.

Verse 13, Jesus says, but now I am coming to you and these things

I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Remember what we read in Hebrews chapter 12 verse. Well, I'll go ahead and start in verse one where it says, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses and that being in reference to what we just read in chapter 11 concerning the heroes of the faith, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, those who have gone before us, let us also lay aside every weight and sin, which clings so closely.

And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Christ, looking at the joy that was set before him beyond the cross to the resurrection, the ascension, the being seated at the right hand of God, being an advocate for us before the father, our mediator between God and man, the the king who reigns on high, who is coming back to judge the living and the dead, who receives us as his inheritance, looking beyond the cross to these things.

Therefore, he endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

So here in verse 13, Jesus says, I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

The joy that Christ was looking toward to receive the kingdom of God and sit enthroned in heaven.

Jesus is asking the father that we would receive that same joy. And indeed, those things are promised to us.

We are fellow heirs of the kingdom of God in Christ. In Revelation three, where Jesus says to the one who endures to the end,

I give a place to him to sit with me on my throne. Those things that Jesus would receive, we've become fellow heirs of.

So he says to the father as part of our sanctification, that the joy of Christ would be fulfilled in us, that likewise we would know the joy of Christ and we would also have it as we look for the things that are above, not for the things that are on earth.

Set your mind on things that are above where Christ is, Paul says in Colossians three, not the things here on earth for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

And truly, you know, Matthew chapter six, where Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be added to you as well.

So we are to set our minds above. And this is for our sanctification, that the joy of Christ may also be in us, it may be fulfilled in us.

Verse 14, I 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.

And this was something that Jesus had said to his disciples earlier, where he said back in chapter 15, verse 18, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Jesus had just said that to his disciples. That's what he taught to them. And now he even praise it in his prayer.

Yeah, imagine this. Jesus praised the scriptures. You've probably heard many teachers say this before, but but learn to pray the scriptures when you read a scripture, learn to pray it, that you are repeating the words of God back to him so that you may more fully know the will of God.

What you're actually praying for is the will of God, because that will has been revealed to you in the scriptures.

And so as that is what we are supposed to pray for, we must learn to pray the scriptures and give you an example of that.

You just take something like John three, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son and whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

You've heard me pray that at the closing prayer of the podcast episodes many times, whether or not you were aware that I was saying it, saying something like,

God, you have so loved us that you have sent your son to die on the cross for our sins so that by faith in him, if we believe in him, we know that we will not perish.

We have been forgiven our sins and we will have everlasting life in heaven with you praying something like that so that that message of the gospel becomes more alive to you.

Even as you pray it, you've heard somebody like John Piper say, preach the gospel to yourself every day.

You need the gospel. We are prone to forgetfulness. We're prone to temptation. We're prone to chase after the things in this world.

We need the gospel constantly so that the dead man or woman that we once were would stay down and we would be the new creatures in Christ that we are to be seeking the things that are above where Christ is.

Jesus saying here, praying his own words to the father. So he's praying the scriptures.

They are not of this world, just as I am not of the world. And I do not ask that you take them out of the world.

That's verse 15. But that you keep them from the evil one. The very

Lord's Prayer in Matthew six that Jesus taught his disciples to pray lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Jesus is praying that very thing here before the father. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth. What does sanctification mean? I've used the word even today in the lesson.

You've heard it. You heard me mention it many times. But are you clear on the definition? What does sanctification mean?

Well, is shorter form of that would be to sanctify. They might even think of the word sanctity.

What does it mean to sanctify something? It means to make it holy means to set it apart. It means to purify it.

So as we are being sanctified, we are growing in purity. We're growing in holiness.

We're growing in godliness that our minds may be more like the mind of Christ, conform to him, less like the world, more like Jesus.

That's what it means to be sanctified. And how is it truly that we grow in sanctification?

It is according to the word of God. So, like I said earlier, you're certainly growing in sanctification, reading this word and studying it and filling up knowledgeable things as they pertain to God, which is just simply the study of theology.

You're studying good theology and you are growing in sanctification. But now applying that and growing in sanctification in its application.

That's where going to church is so important. And being with fellow believers, sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth.

It is as we draw closer and closer to the word of God and we all do that together, we draw closer and closer to one another.

Our commitment to the truth and growing in sanctification, according to the truth, according to the scriptures, is also growing us in unity.

A church where the pastor does not preach expositionally to his congregation, exegetically going verse by verse through the scriptures, just as we do in these

Bible lessons here, a church that does not do that for its congregation is depriving its congregation.

And there will be less unity in that flock than there would be under the teaching of someone that is going through the scriptures and teaching someone what the

Bible says, because more often than not, when a pastor is standing at the pulpit and he's not going verse by verse through the scriptures, then typically what you're hearing is the pastor's opinion.

So everything is built around the pastor rather than the word of God. And that's when you get, you know, spotlight showboat pastors and mega church pastors, the superstar pastors.

All of that is because what they're spouting off are their ideas rather than bringing the church into submission to the word of God, which sanctifies us and grows us in unity.

For further reading, go to Ephesians 4, verse 11 through 16, and read further about how our adherence to the truth and the word of God grows us together in unity into the head, who is

Christ Jesus. Let us conclude with prayer. Our wonderful Father, we pray indeed, just as Jesus prayed for his disciples and prayed for us, we pray also that you would sanctify us in your truth.

May we understand these words. May they be written on our hearts. May we apply them to our lives and live them as we go throughout our day.

To the praise of your glorious grace, in Jesus name. Amen. This is

When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours, but this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

Find a good, gospel -teaching, Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our