Be Sanctified and One


John 17
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Jesus finished telling his disciples in John 16 how they will be hated, persecuted, killed for his name's sake... How he is going to die and leave them here so the Comforter can come... then he goes on to tell them that eternal life is KNOWING the only true God AND Jesus Christ...

It shows me that if you DON'T know the only true God then you can't know Jesus Christ and if you don't know Jesus Christ then you can't know the only true God...

John 17 (cont.)
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
         This is a powerful verse, God tells us in Isa. 42:8 that he will not give his glory to another...
Cf
Isa 42
8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

John 17 (cont.)
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

"...that they may be one, as we are..." Think about that! Jesus is praying that we may be one with the Father as he is one with the Father... How can that be??? He is God... BUT he is also man... He has two natures wrapped up in one being. He is the God/man... Let's explain it by using some other scriptures.
Matt. 24:36

"36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
The Roman Catholic Church explains this differently than groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses and others...They say that Jesus used "Mental Reservation" which is really lying but they won't say that he lied so they come up with a new group of words with their meaning applied to them...
"Mental reservation is an act of the mind which resists the natural meaning that the spoken words appear to bear. If I give no outward clue to my mental limitation of the spoken phase, either in the peculiar wording I use, or in the circumstances of person or of place, I am using a pure mental reservation, or, in plain English, a lie. If I do not indicate externally my mental limitation according to the usages of language and of social custom, I am using a broad mental reservation, which is always permissible and lawful..."
Back to the verse, Jesus didn't know when he was coming again in the flesh as man since the bible plainly tells us that he grew in wisdom and stature with God and man...
Ck. Luke 2:52
"52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."
What I am trying to show you is... Jesus as man didn't know when he was coming again but Jesus as God does...
AND
Cf. John 16
29
His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
The disciples acknowledged that Jesus Christ knows all things and he didn't disagree with that statement showing that he does know all things but he makes them question their statement in a round about way, "Do you now believe?" Jesus knew the fickleness of man. At another time it is recorded what Jesus knew.
"24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. (John 2)

John 17 (cont.)
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

This joy is an unbelievable one. He is praying that we might have the joy that he has in us YET he was getting ready to go to the cross... AND he is praying that we might have his JOY??? WOW!!! Happiness basically depends on what happens but joy isn't... It is dependent on things within... since Jesus is within his people then the joy, peace he gives cannot be dependent on outward circumstances...

John 17 (cont.)
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Since we are in Jesus and he is in us then that should help us to see that we are not of this world in the same way that he is not of this world... Jesus Christ is praying for us that we would live like ambassadors in this world knowing that we are just passing through... Shining his light, walking sanctified in him..
II Cor 5
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

If you notice here starting in verse 17, that anyone in Christ IS A NEW creature so that should help you to see why Jesus said they are not of this world as he is not of this world. We have been translated from the darkness to the light by the blood of Christ. We were sinful, sick foul creatures BUT NOT NOW we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus as we walk in the faith. Incredible!

John 17 (cont.)
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Jesus did certain things when he walked this planet for our purpose so that we can see how we are to operate, focus on the Father God, pray, just overall live our life in him, etc...

John 17 (cont.)
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

The Lord Jesus Christ is praying for those who would come to know him and the focus of the prayer is FOR US TO BECOME ONE in him and in the Father, that we would be one in them. The world sits up and takes notice when the body of Christ is walking in unity, in oneness towards one another and the Lord...AND he does that though his written word. Remember John 17:17 above. Or John 8:32 and Psa 119:11 and many more.

John 17 (cont.)
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

He is NOT praying that we would have the glory that he has inheritably had from eternity past but the glory that he had as the last Adam, the perfect man...The first man Adam was called a son of God and so is the last Adam...
Check
Luke 3:38
"38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God."
Also
I Cor. 15:45 "45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit."
         Jesus became like the first Adam, a sinless being BUT he didn't blow it like the first one did... Jesus Christ never sinned...He could have sinned BUT he DIDN'T sin. Temptation makes no sense being used with Jesus if he could NOT have sinned. The word puts it this way, "15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb 4
         Just as the first Adam, a perfect man could sin and DID, the last Adam, a perfect man could sin and DIDN'T. Praise his holy name! I praise the God/man Jesus Christ for setting us free from sin when we accept his offer of forgiveness
.

John 17 (cont.)
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

The world will know that we belong to Jesus Christ as we are being made perfect in him...The word's place is to sanctify us, to make us perfect in him but with all the new versions, it is easy to see the separation taking place, they teach different things. "...that the world may know..." reminds me of ...
John 13:34,35 so here it is again...
"34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Tie that in with what I just read in John 17 where Jesus said, "...that the world may know that thou hast sent me,..." AND "hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
God loves us AS he loves Jesus... THAT IS A MIND BLOWER. As we are walking in Jesus and he in us then we would be walking in sanctification
I John 4:19
"19 We love him, because he first loved us."
We are only capable of loving God because he first loved us.

John 17 (cont.)
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Now Jesus is praying that the love that God had for Jesus BE IN US and him too! Awesome, totally awesome!!!


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John Chapter 18