The Burden of Jesus Heart — Zac Poonen

The Burden of Jesus’ Heart in John 17

I was thinking this morning of a word in John 17 and verse 23 with which we are all familiar. This is the prayer of Jesus to his father and I believe we see something in this prayer of Jesus heart more than anywhere else in all of the Gospels.

The reason is this, Jesus life we see such a lot of goodness in him and so many things in him but in the person with whom Jesus was most intimate was his heavenly father. Nobody on earth could equal that.

I mean the closest Peter, James and John were million miles away compared to Jesus closeness to his father. And you know that we open our hearts much more to those we are very close to and the further away people are from us we don't open our hearts so much.

And this is the only place in the Gospels where we read of the actual words which Jesus prayed. There is no other place in the Gospels where we read of Jesus prayer, his private prayer to his father. And it's really amazing because there we see the burden of his heart and if you want to know the burden of Jesus heart and I believe if you are a Christian you should know that.

Then you must read John 17 and then you will see how much we have disappointed him, how much we have let him down, how much we have come short of what he wants us to be. And I would encourage you my brothers and sisters, those who have a year to hear, please study John 17.

Jesus’ Prayer for Unity Among His Disciples

One of the things that you see frequently in John 17 is his burden that we should all be one. Not everybody in the world. In fact he said here, I am not praying for everybody in the world. He said that also here.

He said I am only praying for eleven people that they must be one. And then he said I am also praying for those who will listen to the words of these eleven coming generations. That they all may be one.

Now why didn't he include so many others who believed in him? There were not only eleven people in Israel who believed in him. But if you see here, I want you to just look at that verse if you are not familiar with John 17.

He said in verse 6, I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. And he says in verse 9, I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking for the world but for those you have given me.

And we know who they are because he says in verse 12, while I was with them I was keeping them in your name and guarding them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition so that the scripture would be fulfilled.

So that means he is referring to Judas Iscariot who fell away. So that verse teaches us he was praying only for eleven people. And he says in verse 14, these are people whom the world has hated because they are not of the world as I am not of the world.

See he is not praying for a whole lot of Christians whom the world loves because they are worldly. There are lot of Christians whom worldly people love because they are worldly. I mean Jesus may do wonderful things for such people but here he is not praying for them.

He is praying for those whom the world has rejected. Whom the world has hated because they hated Jesus also. Even as Jesus, he says there, even as verse 14, as I am not of this world. That didn't mean he didn't live in this world.

It meant that his whole way of life was against this world system. That's why the world hated him. He was like a foreigner who had come to take people out of this world into his country heaven. That's why he was hated because the devil wanted everybody.

Resisting Satan’s Sinful and Worldly Distractions

And those whom the devil can trap through sin, he traps through sin. And those whom the devil can't trap through sin, he traps through this world system with a lot of things that look very innocent but which he knows may not lead a person into sin.

Listen to this. The devil knows that some people he can get away with, draw them away with sin. But there are certain other people he can't draw away with sin and so he tries a second method and that is with a whole lot of things in the world which will not draw them into sin but will lead them away from God.

That's enough. The devil is not interested in getting everybody into sin. He'd like to lead a lot of people into sin because they'll automatically be rejected by God. But if he can't lead them into sin, then he'll try some other way of just getting them away from God.

That's all he's interested in. You know, like Adam and Eve. He just wanted to get them away from God. They didn't go to hell. In fact, for nearly over 900 years, they were not in hell. They were on earth.

The devil was quite happy. How was he happy when they were not in hell? He was happy that they were not with God anymore. He hated a man like Enoch who walked with God. I tell you, he'll hate anybody today who walks with God and who's going to lead other people to walk with God.

But if you don't walk with God and you're not close to God or you're the other type of person who's just, maybe you walk with God but you're not interested in leading a single other person in the world to walk with God.

The devil says, OK, he's a harmless chap. He's walking with God. I've lost him. But he's not interested in bringing anybody else in his whole lifetime. He will not lead anybody else to walk with God. So, leave him alone.

But if you're the type of person who's not only going to walk with God but determined to do everything in your power to lead other people to walk with God. I tell you, the devil will hate you like he hated Jesus.

Jesus was just devoted to getting people out of the world. And the devil has so many methods of leading people, you know, into all types of entertainments. And sometimes it may not be sinful entertainment.

Sometimes it may be just wasting time. With good entertainment. A person can spend six hours watching a cricket match and have no time to read the Bible that day. And the next day there's another cricket match for another six hours.

And the devil's quite happy. There's nothing sinful about watching a cricket match, is there? Absolutely nothing sinful. And that's what the devil reminds him. You're not watching some filthy movie. You're watching something good, healthy exercise.

Or you can spend so many hours of your life, you know, playing games and reading novels. Not dirty novels, good novels. So long as you're not close to God, it doesn't matter to the devil what you do. You can be busy with your work.

You can be busy writing software programs. You can be busy, you know, doing your business. It doesn't matter what it is. So long as you don't have time for God, the devil is quite happy. That's what the world does.

And Jesus recognized that. And he knew the world is such a busy place that it's so easy to get taken up. Even in ministry, there are a lot of people in the ministry, Christian ministry, who have no time for God because they're so busy.

Ministry, ministry, ministry. And Jesus knew that. He was so busy, but he always made time, usually early in the morning before people got up. He would be alone with God because he knew that was the only way he could overcome Satan.

Have you all understood that? I don't know. If you haven't understood that, I want to say to you that devil has succeeded with you. And you're living in that deception because you're not sinning. You're just so busy that you have no time for God.

But the Lord's not really praying for such people. I mean, he wants such people to repent. Sure. God wants all people to repent and all people not to perish. He wants everybody to be saved. But here in John 17, his burden is praying for those who are not of this world.

Living as People Set Apart From the World

Do you want Jesus to pray for you? I want him to pray for me. The world is such an evil place. I want Jesus to pray for me. I want him to pray for me every day. And I see in the burden of his heart here, whom he prays for.

He specifically says, I am not praying on behalf of the world or the people whose interests are in the world. See, I'm not praying for them. Does God bless them? He certainly does. He blesses them with material things, not spiritual things.

He blesses them with the sun rises and the good and the evil. The rain falls on the atheistic farmer's field, just like on the godly farmer's field. He sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

He certainly blesses people materially. So all those people who want only material blessings, brother, sister, you don't have to walk with God. You don't have to have any time for God in your life because God is such a good God that he'll bless you even if you ignore him.

Because that's his nature. He'll bless you with sun and rain and health and strength and material things. But here Jesus' burden is not for them. His burden is for those who have come out of this, those who have heard that call of God and recognized that I'm living in a strange country.

This is not my home. This is a strange land I'm in. And I have really no interest in the things this land offers me. My heart is always longing for the things of another land where my home is. It's amazing what a real new birth experience does for people.

A lot of people who say they are born again today, I don't know whether they are really full-term babies. You know, full-term babies will be nine months in the womb, will come out healthy and strong and cry as soon as they're born and healthy.

They cry out for milk and eager. And then we have these babies that are born five months, six months. You don't know whether they'll survive or not. You got to keep them in incubators. They hardly cry.

You got to force them. They don't cry for milk. There are lots and lots of, yeah, they are babies. Yeah, you can say such people have some life in them. But you don't know whether they'll survive. Lot of so-called born-again babies today are in that condition.

They are not healthy and strong. When I say they are not full-term babies, it means they have not repented. Some evangelists pulled them out and told them, Yeah, yeah, you're safe. Let's baptize you.

Come on, you're child of God. Because they gave all the right answers and they had said the magic mantra words, Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I'm sorry for my sins. A lot of people are excited. If you can get a whole lot of people to raise their hands and say, Lord Jesus, I believe you're the son of God.

I'm a sinner. I want to turn from my sins. I believe you rose from the dead. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Praise God. Millions of souls were, OK, I hope so. I'm sorry, I don't believe that. I don't know.

And I don't think Jesus believes it either. And I don't think the angels in heaven are rejoicing over that because Jesus said the angels rejoice when one sinner repents, turns from this world system, turns around and says, I'm not going to live for money anymore.

I'm not going to live for my parents anymore. I'm not going to live to please my parents or the world. Or I don't love my job or anything. That's not the type of repentance we're getting in today's conversions.

So the angels are not rejoicing. Some guy was keeping statistics here on how many people raised their hands. He's rejoicing, but not the angels in heaven and not Jesus and not me. Certainly not. I'm not fooled by all this.

Neither are the angels and neither is Jesus. We think just because somebody calls out the name of Jesus, that's a great thing. Boy, one million people called out on Jesus. Really? With Jesus? The Jesus who has come to deliver them from the world?

Or a Jesus who has come to bless them and heal them? You don't need to call out and he'll bless you and heal you because he's a good God. Lots of people. Yeah, I want to be among this crowd here. He said, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but keep them from evil.

He's praying for those who want to be kept from all evil. Kept from Satan, kept from any contact with Satan. If you're in that category, I want to say to you the good news. Jesus is praying for you. If you have recognized the evil of this system, this world in which we live, he's praying for you.

He's not praying that we be taken out of the world, taken to heaven straight away. No. Because he's got a purpose. He wants us to be a witness here. So he's not praying we be taken out of the world. But he says, in this evil world, they are not of the world.

Verse 16, even as I am not of the world. As much as I am not of the world, they are not of the world. Boy, what a standard. What a standard. As much as I am not of this world, they are not of the world.

That means as much as Jesus had no interest in the things of this world, these people have no interest in the things of this world. They live here. Jesus ate and drank and earned money and lived. When he was a full-time worker, he received gifts and all that because he had to live.

But his interest was not here. His interest was not in money. This is all a temporary thing. It's like traveling in a train. And in the train, you get some food. But it may not be the best food. But it's only to survive till you reach your destination.

The seats may not be comfortable. Some of it may be torn. You find cockroaches and all types of things running around. But you say, that's okay. It's only for two days. When I reach Delhi, I'll get off this train.

I'm not settling down in this train. How many Christians are living like that in the world? They are not of this world. This train is not my home. I've got a destination I'm going to. Jesus is praying for people like that.

Pursuing Radical Discipleship and Sanctification

I want to tell you, my brothers and sisters, please listen to me. Please listen to someone who's tried to walk with the Lord for 45 years. I'll tell you something. If you live like this, it's the most blessed life you can ever live.

That's why I rejoice at you young people in this church. I rejoice because you folks have got the opportunity to live this life from now. From now, if you say, Lord, I'm going to live for you. I'm not going to live like all these other people in the world.

I'm not going to live this up and down, up and down life, sometimes loving you, sometimes loving the world. I'm going to be radical. I want to follow you. And he says here, now you say, I haven't yet been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Okay. Pray to God to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But I want to tell you the good news. These people whom he prayed for, they were not filled with the Holy Spirit either. But they were still not of the world because they'd made a decision.

So even if you're waiting and praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, never mind. But you can still be like these people. You say, Lord, these disciples could forsake everything and follow you before they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Why can't I? I don't want the devil to keep taunting me saying, Oh, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. You'll never amount to anything. What do you mean? Look how those disciples were. Look how Jesus prayed for those disciples before they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

They were not of the world even at that time. It's possible at that time. Of course, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the whole thing became much more real. But he says for them, one prayer, he says, sanctify them.

Sanctify them in the truth. The word sanctify means separate them, separate them from everything of evil and everything of the world. Because the more you get separated, it's another way of saying you get closer to God.

Sanctification is a word which means holiness. So the devil and the world are here and God is here. The more you get separated from the devil and the world, you're automatically getting closer to God.

Sanctify them in the truth. Truth is one of those words which is very rarely found in the Old Testament. Because people could not have truth. David prayed in Psalm 51, Thou desirest truth in the innermost being.

If I were to expand his words, he was saying, but Lord, I can't make it. I want it, but I can't make it. I'm good on the outside, but truth, reality in the innermost being, I don't have. That's one of the wonderful things that's happened on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus said the spirit of truth will come.

He made me love the truth. He made me love the truth about myself, first of all. God has shown me different things through the years and he continues to show me. I made a decision before God many years ago that changed my life.

And that was that as soon as I discover something about myself, I immediately acknowledge it. I say, Lord, that's true. There's something in me which needs to change. And it's made all the difference in my life because I love the truth.

I get letters, you know, when a person who serves the Lord like me, we get a lot of critical letters and emails from sometimes stinging, hurting, insulting. I always read them because I say in the midst of all this mud, there may be a little bit of gold.

I mean, this guy flings all this mud at me, but if I can get a little bit of gold out of it, I'll be rich. There may be a little truth in all this mud this fellow is flinging at me. And I picked that little gold bit of truth out of all that one ton of dirt.

I got one gram of gold from it. And he's made me rich. He didn't know it. His aim was not to make me rich. His aim was to dirty my face and my clothes and everything else. But little did he know that I serve a God who makes all things work together for my good.

And I can tell you testimony after testimony after testimony how that's happened to me through the years. I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, love the truth. That's the only way you'll be sanctified.

Loving Truth, Conviction, and Holiness

And if you have not grown more in grace, if you have not experienced the anointing of God more upon your life, it's because you have not wanted to be anointed with the spirit of truth. Will you pray that the spirit of truth will so grip you that you will immediately acknowledge the possibility that you could be wrong, there could be some evil in you, there could be some love of money left in you, there could be something of the world that's hindering you from following the Lord, there could be still a little bit of an unforgiving attitude, there could be some anger against someone which has not been cleansed away.

Who are you destroying? You're not destroying the other person you're angry with, you're destroying yourself. Oh dear brother, sister, love the truth about yourself. You know what the difference it will make to your life?

If you love the truth about yourself, you can't be holy by sitting in a holy church. No. Judas Iscariot sat in the holiest church on earth with the holiest preacher of all and heard him preach for three and a half years and he became the most evil man of all, teaching us forever one truth, that you don't become holy by sitting in a holy church.

You don't become holy by listening to the greatest preacher in the world. You got to have a heart that loves the truth. How many times Jesus tried to draw him to the truth. Once he said, one of you is a devil.

One of you is a devil. There are twelve of you, but one of you is a devil. Didn't Judas recognize that he was speaking about him? There were only twelve and if Jesus said twelve, one of you is a devil, even if the others didn't know it, he knew.

He should have gone home and said, oh God, that was about me he was speaking. I see something wrong in my heart. Is the Lord saying something to you this morning? You got a wrong attitude to someone. Don't get offended with me.

That won't help you. Judas got offended with Jesus, even though he didn't name him. I've said different things on the pulpit here. I don't name people. It's not my business. I see some of you are sitting on the fence.

Fence sitters. People get offended with what? With me. OK. Has it changed them? It won't change them any more than it changed Judas Iscariot. If it doesn't apply to you, forget it. But the fact that it disturbs you, probably shows you are a fence sitter.

It disturbed Judas and he didn't do anything about it because he didn't love the truth. These are warnings. Sanctify them in the truth. We cannot be sanctified. We cannot be separated from evil if we don't love the truth.

If you don't love the truth, what will happen gradually is the devil will convince you that watching those type of movies is OK, provided you fast forward some of those places. It's OK. He won't tell you that you are financing his kingdom by buying such movies.

He won't tell you that you are financing his kingdom by a lot of things that you buy or see or money that could have been given for God's work. Do you think Jesus would spend money to finance the devil's kingdom?

See, that's what happens when I don't love the truth. Gradually my sensitivity to the things of God go away and I become like Adam who says, I know what is good and evil. I don't need God. I know what is good and what's evil and I don't choose what's evil.

I've eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I know what's good and I know what's evil and I know what is right. That's how a lot of upright people in the world live, who don't know God. A lot of atheists who are very upright, who will not cheat in exams.

We know of IAS officers in the country who stand up against the minister and say, I won't do that, it's wrong. And they are not Christians. Have you read about in the paper, somebody is transferred, some upright police officer is transferred, he is not a Christian.

Where did he get that sense of uprightness from? From Adam who ate the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It's come down to all of us, we know what's good and what's evil, but there is no contact with God.

And that type of knowledge of good and evil kills us, like it killed Adam. In the day you eat, you will die. That's the great danger of knowing good and evil without God. I don't want to know good and evil without God.

I wanted my knowledge of good and evil to come from my contact with God, because then God shows me certain things I thought were good, are not good. Certain things I thought were good for my children, are not good.

But if you apply the worldly standards, the world says, hey, what's wrong with that? Don't be so legalistic. As soon as I hear the word legalistic, I get scared. It's almost like... I'll tell you this, I'd rather be legalistic than worldly, and like the devil, any day.

I know legalism has protected my own children from many worldly things when they were in my home, because they were not under grace yet. Don't be afraid of the devil's hurling words he knows you're afraid of.

And that's the word I fear some people are afraid of today in our church. Legalism, oh dear, no, I'm not a legalist, I'm quite worldly, I'm okay. Don't let the devil make a fool of you. Jesus wasn't deceived.

He said, they are not of this world. Sanctify them in the truth. So I want to say to you, love the truth. When you see something in God's word that you are not obeying, don't try to get around it by mental manipulation of words and say, well, that doesn't mean that.

Brother, we can't be so strict about every little word. That's like being a Pharisee. You know who's telling you all that? It's the devil. I'll tell you when you're legalistic. When you impose those rules on other people, that's when you're legalistic.

That I'll tell you, don't do that. My brethren, don't be many teachers. That means don't, in the Amplified Bible it says, don't be a self-appointed censor of other people's actions. Don't be a critic.

Then you become legalistic. But if you're doing it for yourself, you're not legalist. I'll never be a legalist if I obey scripture down to the last jot and tittle. Jesus said that. Not one jot or tittle will pass away till I fulfill everything.

He was not bothered about people going, you're a legalist by worrying about all the jots and tittles. No, he was not a legalist. He said he's going to keep all of them, he said in Matthew chapter 5. Now I want to follow Jesus and obey every jot and tittle in God's word, in the new covenant especially.

And at the same time give complete freedom to other people to be worldly if they want to. It's none of my business. Jesus gave people complete freedom to be worldly if they wanted to. That rich young ruler said it's too much of a price to sell all my money and give to the poor.

Jesus said okay, go. He didn't go running after him and he doesn't go running after any of us. But these eleven, they were radical and they got a privilege which that rich young ruler didn't get. Jesus prayed for them.

Jesus revealed his heart to them. He said sanctify them in the truth, separate them more and more and more and more from all that is worldly. Father give them discernment about what is really of the world which they won't have discernment if they don't contact you.

If they just use their senses, they will be deceived. Thy word is truth. And verse 18, John 17, 18. As you sent me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. How did he send me into the world?

Sent Into the World as Witnesses

I said well Lord, I was born into the world. Yeah, that's true the Lord says. But a day in your life, you became a full term baby. I took a long time to come to assurance of my salvation. Perhaps about six years after I first accepted Christ.

I don't know when I accepted Christ. Maybe when I was 13 or so, I don't know. But it was only at 19 and a half that I came to assurance of salvation and I was born as a full term baby. I turned not only from sin but from loving everything in this world including my job which was my ambition in life.

To get on in the world and I said, I turned around and I said, Jesus you are Lord of my life. And that day the Lord took me out of the world and then he sent me back into the world the same day. And said okay, I have taken you out but I am putting you back.

But now you are not like you were before. I sent you into the world just like my father sent me. And what is one of the wonderful things and this is before I go on there. Verse 20. I am not asking only for these people, these 11 here with me who were there listening to him praying.

But also those who believe in me through their word. That applies to you and me sitting here. That's where your name comes in. My name is in verse 20. And I hope you see your name in verse 22. But this is not every person who just happens to say, I believe in Jesus.

Millions of them. There are more than 1 billion people in the world today who say they believe in Jesus. Perhaps near 2 billion people in the world today say they believe in Jesus. But here he is talking unlike of the type of belief which these 11 had.

Not like the type of belief that a lot of other people had. These 11 had a radical type of belief. Which separated them from the world. They were not of the world. And Jesus says, I am not only praying for these 11 but other people like these 11 who will come in the next 2000 years or 2100 years in history.

Other people like these 11. I am praying for them too. And that brings a desire in my heart to be like those 11. Because then I know he is going to include me also. But not every Christian can say, I am included in verse 20.

Are you like those 11? I am not asking you whether you left your job like those people did. That's not the important thing. That was for a period. Paul continued to work afterwards. Paul worked all through his life in a secular job and God may keep you in a secular job.

That's not the point. But are you detached from it? You can work in a secular job attached to it or detached from it. And I know when Jesus became Lord of my life, I still worked in the Navy for many years but I was no longer attached to it like I was before I was converted.

I was no longer attached to my bank account like I was. I still had a bank account. I still have one today. But I am not attached to it. I still had my parents but I was not attached to them like I was before.

I was attached to Jesus. I had my friends. I didn't give up my friends. But I was not attached to them anymore. Now I sought to influence them towards Christ. That's how it was with those people. And I say Lord I want to be like that.

The Glory of Christ and the Believer’s Responsibility

Because it says here that you include me also there. And then I want to come to verse 23. This is what I was telling you about. You know we like verse 22 where it says the glory which you have given me, I have given them.

I want that. He doesn't say I will give them. I have given it to them and I believe that includes me if I fit into verse 20. That includes me that the tremendous glory which the Father gave Jesus, He has given to me.

He has given it to me. That's what's changed my character. That's what's given me victory over sin in my life. That's what's changed many things in my life that are unchrist-like. There is still more to come because I have to partake more of that glory in the coming days.

But it's getting better and better. And it was slower in the early days but it's getting faster and faster as the time goes on. Getting better and better. I hope it's like that with you, the glory which the Father gave Jesus.

He has given me. I praise God for that. I mean it's for you too if you fit into, if you are like these eleven, that's for you too. It's the most wonderful life you can ever live. You may not make as much money.

I think if I didn't seek to go this way, I could have probably made a lot more money in the world. I don't have any doubt about it. Because I would have set my mind on making money. But I decided that's not worth it and I don't regret it.

I never start. But I say this, this is so much better to have enough to live on in this world and to have the glory of heaven. And then he says, here is my responsibility. This is what I wanted to show you.

The responsibility that we have, my brothers and sisters, all that I said so far was an introduction to verse 23. What is our responsibility? Why did Jesus keep us in this world? Why didn't he take you to heaven as soon as you were born again?

You know a lot of people who say, well, I'm going to heaven when I die. Well, why doesn't God kill you straight away? What are the advantages of being killed as soon as we are born again? Can you think of something?

First of all, we won't backslide, right? There won't be any backsliders if everybody is killed as soon as they are saved. No, everybody. This question of once saved, always saved, we won't even be there.

Because if you are once saved, you are always saved. Because as soon as you are saved, God kills you, takes you to heaven. Of course, there won't be any believers on earth. Right? Because everybody will go to heaven.

I don't know how anybody else will get converted. But why did he keep us on earth? Is it only to tell other people that Christ died for their sins? Or is it more than that? That's what I want you to see in verse 23.

It's much more than that. It's a tremendous responsibility we have. A tremendous challenge that comes to us. If you can look at it like this, it's like God saying, listen, I'm going to double your salary.

You go to the office tomorrow and you hear the boss say, hey, I'm going to double your salary. Are you going to be depressed or excited? I don't know about all you spiritual people. I'll be excited. See, so many of us try to act spiritual.