I can only pray that the portion of word of God
that I have been bringing to you in these heart
-to -heart talks mean as much to you as they
mean to me. Even as I speak with you regarding
this prayer that Jesus prayed. His conversation
with the Father. I feel like speaking softly
because it's something very sacred. We are really
on a holy ground. May I please read several verses
now from the 17th chapter of John as we go into
the next phase of this prayer. These words spake
Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that
thy Son may also glorify thee. As thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest
me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self, with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was. 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. Now they
have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee. 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 i pray for them i pray not for
the world but for them which thou hast given
me for they are thine the next few minutes I
want you to see there's something that's vitally
important because this is the part of the prayer
that Jesus prayed for us. First of all, remember,
he began this conversation with the Father, reminding
the Father that in all the things he had glorified
to the Father, that everything that he had done,
He had but one purpose, one motive. That was
to glorify the Father. Then he reminded the Father
that he'd carried out the perfect trust that
the Father had in him. I just love those words.
I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished
the work. which thou gavest me to do. He was
talking about that confidence that the father
had placed in him. And now he comes to that part
where he's talking about you and he's talking
about me. Read, if you will, please, now. In
the next verse, I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world.
Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. See,
something is vitally important. In the beginning,
God the mighty Creator. He was the one who said,
let us make man in our own image and after our
likeness. God the great, the mighty creator,
God almighty. I always like to think of him being
the big boss. There's something about it. Even
though the Holy Spirit may be equal in power
with the sun, And the son equal in power with
the father. There's something about God the father
being the big boss. And I think that Jesus kept
that in mind too. Even while he was talking to
the father. That was the reason he addressed
him as father. Wasn't it amazing? that Jesus
addressed him as Father and always kept that
status, always. And even while he was here on
Earth, he kept reminding us of the status of
the Father. He still is, he always will be, God
Almighty, the Big Boss. All men created in his
image and after his likeness. But there is something
that changes here. And Jesus is talking, referring
to those that thou hast given me. This is something
that's vitally important to every born -again
man, every born -again woman. Love is something
that you do. God gave. God gave his son. After
the same time, remember, Jesus gave to his church
the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the greatest
gift that is possible for him to give. After
the same time, the Father gave to his son a gift.
for having carried out his perfect will. Because
Jesus could say, I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do, the Father turns and says,
in essence, all right, son, this wonderful body
of believers, every Christian, this bride of
Christ, Every redeemed man and every redeemed
woman, I give to you because you've carried out
the plan of redemption perfectly. It's like that.
It's like that. Again, you see, we're defying
the laws of God by not giving. Again, the whole
world is defying the laws of God. There's something
in the very nature of God. There's got to be
trust. There's got to be confidence. That's lacking
in the world today. There's no trust. There's
no confidence. Defying the very laws of God,
everything is built on trust and confidence.
We're defying the very laws of God by not giving.
Who gives anymore? Let me ask you. Who gives
anymore? back in the mind of every man and every
woman is, okay, what am I going to get out of
it? Until you almost feel like, almost without
exception, every time something is given, you
wonder what strings are to be attached to it.
What price you're going to have to pay for the
gift that was given to you. See, we define the
laws of God, the very principles of God. Giving,
giving, giving is the very nature of God. We
have ceased to give unselfishly. We have ceased
to give just because we love, just because we
want to. That's when the world doesn't understand
anymore. Don't you comprehend what I'm trying
to say to you? We've got to get back to it. What
I am saying about individuals, I'm saying about
nations. And after all, nations are made up of
individuals. We can't expect anything better
in the world until man changes. Until the nature
of man is changed. And only one can change the
nature of man. Only one can change the heart
of man. Only one can change the thinking of men.
That's the power of God. That's the reason we
need to come back again to God's laws and God's
principles. It's giving. Giving. Because Jesus
had carried out God's plan. God in turn gave
to Jesus every human being who's been born again.
These that thou has given unto me. Son, he's
saying, they're your gift. I present them as
your gift. That's the reason of the church. is
so important, and we speak of these things that
are so important so lightly. And when I talk
about the church, I'm not talking about great
religious institutions. I'm talking about the
church, His church, the property of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the gift that God the Father gave
to His Son, men and women. who'd been born into
this glorious body of believers. You know, we
separate religion by saying he's a Jew. There's
the temple. There's the rabbi. We speak of Catholicism.
There's the pope. There's the Vatican. He's a
Catholic. There's a great religious institution.
We talk about Protestants. He's a Protestant.
And he's Presbyterian. He's Baptist. And there
is another religious institution. Take all of
your religions. I'm not talking about religion
now. I'm talking about individuals, whether they
be Jew, Gentile, whether they be Roman Catholic,
Greek Orthodox, Protestant. I'm talking about
individuals who've had this spiritual new birth,
this regeneration. And if you have had that spiritual
experience, If you have accepted the Christ in
the forgiveness of your sins, if you can look
up and say, my heavenly father, and no man, no
woman can say it honestly until after they have
accepted his only begotten son, the very son
of living God. as their great high priest in
the forgiveness of their sins. If you can say
that, I don't care who you are, your race, your
nationality, I don't care what. You're my brother.
You're my sister. And you've been born into this
wonderful body of Christ. This body of believers
that God the Father gave to Jesus as a gift.
Don't you understand? If you don't feel anything,
if you're not thrilled by this, then, my friend,
there's not that relationship. You know? Sure.
Oh, this is glorious. This is what it's all about.
This is what it all means. So now Jesus, knowing
that he has done his part, as the Son of God,
that he has glorified the Father. He knows that
he has done his part as one who's come to flesh,
that he's carried out the perfect will of God.
Knowing he has stayed true, he's still spotless.
That'll still be holy blood. That'll be spotless
blood that'll be shed on that cross in just a
few hours. He goes to that cross with absolute
confidence. He knows that when he dismisses his
own spirit on that cross, he has carried out
the plan in the most minute detail he knows.
So between the father and the son, it's all right.
It's all settled. Now he turns and he talks about
those that thou hast given me. 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 the word. Oh, this
sixth verse. When he begins to pray for the men
about him. This is what's marvelous. And he said,
I have manifested thy name to them. What name?
God has only one name according to the biblical
revelation. God is not a name. It's a designation.
The Lord is not a name. It's a title. His name
is Jehovah. Jehovah God. Jesus had borne that
name, linked it with the thought of salvation.
I have manifested thy name. Moses understood.
Abraham understood. Elijah understood. The prophets
understood. Understood perfectly. And he's saying
to the Father, I have manifested thy name. That
first group of men is Hebrews, knew that God
had one name. God had said, this is my name.
My name to all generations. Now Jesus said, I
have manifested thy name to them. I have interpreted
the meaning of the prophetic name that thou didst
take for thyself in the long ago. Bede meant
it by no means understood all that he had said
to them or that he had revealed to them. I do
not believe that John, as close as he was to
Master, really understood everything that Jesus
had told him. And there's Peter. Oh, dear, wonderful
Peter. Even while Jesus was speaking many times,
Peter's thoughts were miles away. Peter thought
he understood, but I'll tell you something, Peter
learned an awful lot in a very short time, just
like many of us, you know. We can spend a lifetime
learning, but suddenly something happens to us.
Suddenly in sickness. Suddenly in an hour of
disappointment. We can learn more in a few days
than we've learned in our entire lifetime. It's
amazing. I like that. Ever coming to the knowledge,
but suddenly we learn. suddenly there's a revelation
and we know. We sense the real values of life.
It's marvelous. It's beautiful. No. The disciples,
me thinks, didn't fully understand everything
that Jesus was saying to them. Not always. But
they did know. as jesus said what he said was
that the word of god and that he was with god
they understood that now for these men he expressed
three desires and watch what these three desires
are now you see if I had been in that same position,
I would have said, please, wonderful father,
don't let them suffer. These are mine. You've
given them to me. Because when there's someone
that we love, we don't want them hurt. We don't
want them to suffer. You take a parent with a
child. I don't believe that there's anything
that hurts a parent more deeply than to see their
youngsters suffer. To know that that child is
in pain. I often wonder what kind of a mother
I would have been. Because I want so very much
to keep people from suffering. I can't stand
to see people suffer. If I had had a child of
my own, I don't think I could have stood it to
have seen that child suffer. And perhaps if I
had been in the position that Jesus was, I would
have said, Don't let it be that thou hast given
to me supper. Please and prosper them. Bless
them. May they never want. May they have everything
they want. Give them everything. No matter what
it is, give them everything. May they never be
hungry. May they never be cold. May they never
want. They're my property. Did he pray that for
them? Not once. You're going to be amazed when
you and I go deep into this prayer. and see what
he really asked of the father for you and for
me.