God Is Preparing Us for Eternity

We mentioned last week we went over a sermon that essentially dealt with preparing, preparing ourselves, examining ourselves prior to the time when we get to the Passover. And as we're thinking about this upcoming Passover, I hope that we find it not only inspiring, but uplifting. It shouldn't be that we are so focused on our sins, ourself, that we aren't mindful of the fabulous blessing that it is to know what God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. What they have been preparing for all eternity. See, I want us to think about that today because as we look toward the time of the Passover and as we celebrate the days of Unleavened Bread, you know, these are of course the holy days that are in the first part of the year. We want to be mindful of what it is the Father and the Son, God Almighty and the Word. What they have been preparing all along. We need to be able to, in a sense, look at it from God's standpoint and not solely just from our own. Now, I'd like for us to look in John 17 because in John 17 you see Jesus describing something and I'm primarily going to focus on John 17 today, although I'll go through some of the other chapters that lead up to John 17.

But in John 17, verse 25, the last couple of verses in John chapter 17, Jesus, in a sense, is concluding a prayer as he is going to be moving toward in that evening his betrayal and then up ultimately is condemnation and ultimately then his crucifixion the next day. Now, this is what was on Jesus' mind. This is what he was thinking about whenever he was preparing for what you would think would be the most monumental thing that any individual would ever go through. Here in verse 25, he said, Righteous Father, this is a part of his prayer. He says, Righteous Father, the world does not know you. It's amazing what it is that Jesus said about the relationship that clearly he had with the Father. The closeness, the love, the concern, the devotion. But he says here in verse 25, the world does not know you. But I know you, and these know that you sent me. Now, who are these? Well, these are the disciples who were there with him. They were the ones who were, they were long, in a sense, for the ride. They were with him. They didn't fully understand what he was going through. They couldn't totally feel the tremendous need that he had right then, because they were yet, because this was going to be after his death, that the day of Pentecost, they would be recipients of the Holy Spirit. And that would actually cause them to be a part of the Church of God. God was going to begin the Church here right shortly, a couple of months after the time of Jesus' death and his resurrection. But he said, these know that you have sent me. And he says, I made your name known to them. I explained, I revealed to you or to them about you.

I've made your name known to them, and I will make it known so that the love with which you have loved me might be in them and I in them. You know, many times when we read through some of these verses, and we often do, we often read these verses around the time of the Passover, or certainly leading up to an understanding of Jesus' death. We often find the verses in chapters 13 and 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 of John, you know, somewhat complex. And in a sense, they really are. But here, you know, Jesus is explaining an understanding where he and the Father, the Word and the One who is both of them having eternally existed as we look into the past, and certainly as we look forward in the future. You know, they have an incredible plan, a fullness of the plan of God that they have been working on from the very beginning.

You see this mentioned as well in 1 Peter 2. We're going to come back mostly to John today, but in 1 Peter 2, I want to point out to you just how it is that the Father and the Son have been working out a plan. They've been working out a purpose with men for 6,000 years, but they've been working on that plan even before that time. You know, how blessed are we to know a part of that plan, to know at least the part that he reveals to us and that he shows us here in 1 Peter chapter 2. Or excuse me, let me back up. It's in 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter chapter 1. It says in verse 18, again, this is revealing God's intent and plan and purpose for man. He says in 1 Peter 1 verse 18, you know that you were ransomed before or from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors. You were ransomed not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus. The precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. In verse 20, he was destined before the foundation of the world but has been revealed or was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.

See now, clearly when Peter was writing this, Jesus' death had been in the last several decades. For us, we look back on that now, awaiting the coming of Christ. And we know it's taken a while, but from the beginning, from the very beginning, from the foundation of the world, the Father and the Son have determined what they will do. And a part of that involved the redemption that would come through the blood, the precious blood of just the Lamb of God.

And he was fully aware of that whenever we read, again back here in John, whenever we read what he had to tell his disciples. If we go back to chapter 13 of John, this section of scripture, again we go over because in chapter 13 you find revealed that Jesus is going to institute a part of the New Testament Passover service, a part of an ordinance that we observe even today.

One that in some ways is very unique, but in other ways it has tremendous meaning. And I will just say, and I encourage all of you to read through John 13 through 17. As you study verses in preparation for the Passover, there's a lot of things you could read, but these are the things that Jesus not only was thinking right before he was taken, right before he would be crucified that day.

This is what he was thinking. This is what he wanted his disciples to think. He wanted them to understand. And so those chapters, John 13 through 17, are a section that I think can be very encouraging to us, because it tells us a great deal about what God is doing and has been preparing to do and planning to do with us as he is going to draw us to a closer and closer relationship with him. And again, you know, we have our part to play in that, but truly understanding what he wants, what he desires, I think is very, very important.

Here in chapter 13, you see that Jesus instituted a part of the New Testament Passover which would reflect his nature, which would reflect his humility, which would show the type of character that he had and actually set an example. Here in chapter 13, and I'm not going to read through all of this because it would take too long, but in chapter 13 and verse 14, after having washed the feet of the disciples, and this is something that Jesus intentionally did, after having washed the feet of the disciples, he says in verse 14, so if I, your Lord and Master, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, then you also ought to wash one another's.

You ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you. See, this is what Jesus was instituting. He was also, and we don't see it in John, but we see it in the other Gospel accounts, he would give the unleavened bread that they had at this meal and the wine that they also had available, he would give those symbols new meaning.

They were not the same meaning as they had before. It was new meaning, because they were going to symbolize his body that was broken for all of mankind, and his blood that was shed so that sin can be forgiven. But here we see, I've set you an example of humility, I've set you an example of service and of devotion. And in essence, whenever you think about washing the feet of another person, it's a willingness to be able to do very menial tasks. Very, what you might even say, would be somewhat unpleasant, although I'm pretty sure most of us, whenever we come to the service, you know, we've already bathed, we're already clean, but we do want to follow, you know, Jesus' example.

If we drop down here in chapter 13, he also says in verse 34, I give you a new commandment that you love one another, just as I loved you, you should love one another. And by this, everyone will know that you're my disciples, if you have love for one another. See, again, he makes a, in a sense, a sign that this would be a requirement for the people that he would draw, that God would draw to him and that he would work in so that they were a family, so that they were a close-knit, loving, caring, forgiving, nurturing family.

That's what the Father, that's the environment the Father and the Son live in. That's what they want for us. Now, in John 14 and John 16, you see chapters where Jesus is explaining to the disciples, you need the Holy Spirit. You need to be able to embrace God in the way I do. The Father and I are engaged in the same plan, in the same purpose, in the same love, in the same rules. We make up the divine family right now.

But it's through the power of the Holy Spirit that you can share in that closeness, that you can be in harmony with God. So in chapter 14, verse 15, he says, if you love me, and he was telling his disciples this, he was telling them those who were with him. And again, it appears there wouldn't have been too many more than just the 12 who had been with them, or later the 11 after Judas left. You know, there were 11 that were there, and maybe a few others, but he was speaking this directly to his disciples. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And he says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, or a helper, or a comforter to be with you forever. See, I'm going to ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit in verse 17. He says, this is the Spirit of truth, whom the world does not identify with. The world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. See, now again, the personification of he is not accurate for a spirit, but they have to write it some way here. And so, you know, he's just showing that, well, the Spirit of God has been with you. You have come to a close walk with your master. You've been learning from him, but you need the Spirit of God to live in you. And in chapter 16, chapter 16, it says in verse 7, and again, that's why I mentioned we should read through all of this, perhaps on an individual basis. Chapter 16, verse 7, he says, nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I'm going to leave. I'm going to go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper, the Comforter, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And in verse 12, he says, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, and again, this was going to be the day of Pentecost. This wasn't going to be right now. You know, they were actually going to forsake Jesus. They were going to turn and run. You know, it was too difficult. It was too hard. And of course, even though Peter proclaimed, you know, it doesn't matter what happens, well, he didn't have what it took to be able to follow through on what he might have wanted, even as perhaps we find ourselves. But he says in verse 13, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak of his own, but will speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come. And so it was through the help of the Holy Spirit that the disciples would come to have a close relationship with Jesus Christ and with God the Father. But he said it's important. It's important that I'm going to leave, and I'm going to once again be with the Father, and then I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to you. Because that Holy Spirit is what gives understanding. It guides us and leads us into truth.

And I want to drop down to the last few verses here in chapter 16.

Because the disciples, and again when you read through this, you can see, well, you know, they thought they understand or they don't think they understand. You know, they're not really sure what he's talking about here. What do you mean you're going to be gone? What do you mean? You know, you're going to have to send something to us.

In verse 32, Jesus says, the hour is coming and indeed it has come.

When you're going to be scattered, every one of you, to his own home and you will leave me alone. You won't even, you won't even claim to be, you won't even claim to know who I am.

Of course, he knew what was going to happen, and they were only learning. What was going to happen? He says, the hour is coming when you'll be scattered, every one to his own home and you will leave me alone. Yet he says in verse 32, and this is extremely revealing about how it was that Jesus as the Son of God, how it was that he was able to do the many, many miraculous and marvelous things that he could do while a human being here on earth. He says, even though you're going to leave me alone, yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. See, he understood. He had a closeness. He had a relationship with the Father. That was in many ways how you could describe it. It was magnetic. It was wonderful. It was exciting. And yet he could tell them that, and yet know that they couldn't really understand it. He said, I've said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you're going to face persecution, but take courage because I've overcome. I've conquered the world. See, what Jesus was explaining was that his relationship with the Father is the type of relationship that each one of us, each one of us need to seek. See, and even though Jesus was going to be forsaken by every other human being on earth, and everyone was going to fall into the category of being sinners, that's what they all had to recognize at that time, and that's what we all recognize today. But you find here in John 17, in Jesus' prayer, I read only a verse or two at the end, but in John 17, Jesus prayed this prayer, and he revealed how it was that his disciples could truly relate to the Father like he did. How it was that they would have the benefit of the Holy Spirit of God. We've already mentioned how that he sent. I'm going to send him to you. I'm going to send that Spirit that will empower, that will inspire, that will uplift you, and that will enable you. You want to stir up, as we've mentioned times over the past year, you want to stir up the gift that God gives us. We don't want to neglect it. We want to appreciate it. But here Jesus describes in chapter 17, and this is in a sense a conclusion to what he's going to tell his disciples. Because as you go into chapter 18, you find that he and the disciples are going into the garden, and you know, chaos is going to break loose, and he's going to be taken, and he's betrayed and then taken. And so here in chapter 17, you see, you know, a very warm communion that he had with his father. And of course, his whole purpose at that time, the day before he died, his whole purpose was to glorify the father. He wanted to do that with his words, with his actions, with his thoughts, and because of the closeness that he had with his father, he was able to achieve that. I'd like for us to see there's, in a sense, three different things that Jesus talks about here in chapter 17. And again, this is in his prayer the evening before he would be dying. First of all, he talks about himself. He talks about how it is that the father relates to him.

He later is going to talk about his disciples, those who were with him. He's going to ask the father to give them some help. And finally, we'll go over these here in a second, but finally, he says, I pray for those who are going to believe in me through the work that these disciples are going to do. Those who are going to become a part of the Church of God down through, at this point now, 2,000 years since Jesus went through, you know, that crucifixion. So I want to start with the first section here. It's actually the first few verses. After Jesus in verse 1 had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven. He said, Father, the hours come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all people to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. See, how was it that Jesus looked at his disciples? He looked at them as individuals that the Father had drawn to him. You have given me this small group. And of course, ultimately, later there's only going to be 120 were gathered together as they're awaiting the day of Pentecost. You know, so did Jesus convert the world when he came? No. He performed miracles, and there were people who could partially understand in a sense that he had a miraculous touch.

But they didn't understand the relationship that Jesus wants his disciples to have. He says in verse 2, Since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, and this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and that they may know Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. See, again, a very simple statement and one that people would often read over. But it's not one that any of us want to read over, because it's telling us how to have eternal life to truly know God, to truly relate to God as our Heavenly Father, not only as our Creator and our life giver, but as the Father of the family that we so desperately want to be a part of.

And he goes on, verse 4, I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. See, he had a mission, he came with a mission, he came with a purpose, he was motivated to achieve, to finish that job. And of course he did. He says, I finished the work that you gave me to do, so now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. See, Jesus was making mention and reference whether his disciples understood it or not that he had been with the Father in the very beginning. Of course, John would write about this and reveal that quite clearly in John 1 and in 1 John 1. If you want two chapters that deal with that exclusively. And yet Jesus was telling them that, well, Father, I want you to reinstate me to the role that I have existed in in the past. I want you to glorify me at your right hand. As I mentioned the second group that he mentions, he talks about himself and his relationship to the Father. But then in verse 6, down through the next few verses, you see him obviously talking about his disciples, about Peter and James and John and Thomas and Bartholomew and the others who were with him there. It says in verse 6, I made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. So he was putting them in a and you know they were yet to be tried and yet to be fully tested. But he said they have come to understand that you know I'm the Son of God. I am the way to eternal life. I am the one who can lead them to eternal life. And if we drop down to verse 9, he says I'm asking, he was praying and asking his Father, I'm asking for them. I'm asking on their behalf. I'm not asking on behalf of the world.

Jesus wasn't trying to transform the world at that time. But he says I'm asking on their behalf. I'm asking, not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me because they are yours. Brethren, we really realize what Jesus was saying. Whenever he is describing his disciples as the one that the Father had drawn to me and that they are the fathers. They are to make up the divine family of God. They are to be growing in that divine nature that he exemplified by the foot washing service, by the humility, by the devotion, by the character of God, by the love that the Father had. So he says in verse 9 that you know those whom you have given me, these disciples, you know they are yours.

See, and when we think of ourselves, we often think about our obedience and our honoring God. And yet, I think God is far more for us than we might ever imagine. That we really understand that God wants us to succeed. He wants us to relate to him and to relate to his son. And then the third group that I did mention to you, if we drop down to verse 20. I ask, not only on behalf of these my disciples, I'm not just simply asking for these small group that are right here with me, but I'm also asking on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word that they may all be one as you, Father, are in me and I'm in you. May they also be in us, be one in us so that the world may believe that you sent me. Now again, we can again read those verses and we can kind of follow what it says, but what it means is absolutely remarkable. Down through the past 2,000 years, Jesus has related to some that the Father would choose to do his work even right up until now. Right up until now, when we're awaiting the coming of Jesus to this earth, we're awaiting the conclusion. Over the past 2,000 years, there have been some, very few, but some that the Father has chosen to develop and grow. The Father has asked for members that would become a part of his church to be guided by the Holy Spirit, to be molded by his words, to be guided by how it is that Jesus says that he works in the lives of people.

I want to point out in the rest of this sermon three things that Jesus emphasizes that sets his church apart and that he encourages each one of us to pursue in our spiritual development. See, Jesus was talking about him being reinstated and being re-glorified at the right hand of God. He was talking about his disciples and he was talking about those who would become a part of the church after that, up until the time when Jesus would come back to the earth. But there are three specific things that are mentioned here. First of all, and this is, again, I think pretty easy for all of us to see, he talks about being one. He talks about being in unison. He talks about being in harmony. He talks about the unity with God that is expected of each and every one of us. We've been granted the blessing of the Holy Spirit. We've been empowered to be able to do the job, the work of God, to be transformed. But he says he wants us to be united. If we back up here to verse 11. Unity with God is the first thing that I'm going to mention. How that each one of us are really expected to be seeking that oneness of God that can only come from drawing close to God, from studying, from praying, from relating to God, and actually, in a sense, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us. That's really what it comes down to, allowing God to work in our lives to become like him. In verse 11, he says, and now I'm no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I'm coming to you, Holy Father. I want you to protect them in your name, those that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. See, that's what he talked about for his disciples, and he's going to apply it to those that would become his disciples thereafter. He says, I want you to help them. I want you to protect them. I want you to draw them together in a closeness, in a oneness, in a unity. That is remarkable. If we drop on down to verse 21, he's talking about those who would believe because of the work that the disciples would do. And in verse 21, it says, that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you.

May they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

See, again, he points out that this is his desire. This is the desire of the God family. This is the desire of God's purpose of working in our lives. He wants each one of us to be in close unity with him. In verse 22, he says, the glory that you have given me, I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. I and them, you and me, and they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them, even as you have loved me. The Father loved the son incredibly, and he loves the world because he makes the sacrifice of his son available, so that we can be close to God. But here he says, he kind of goes over this, in a sense, over and over. Now, I want you to be one, as Jesus was. See, he told all his disciples, you can all forsake me, but I'm not alone. I am in a close communion with the Father. But he says, I want all of you to come to see the need to be united. And, of course, this fulfills God's purpose for human beings. It fulfills his purpose for the development of his family. If we go to Hebrews chapter 2, Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10, it's fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, and bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering, talking about Jesus. For the one who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified, all have one Father, and for this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I'm going to proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you. See, this was God's intent from the very beginning. Now, we know when we read the Bible, when we read the Old Testament, when we see how it was that God dealt with Adam and Eve, they immediately were off track. They were immediately were no longer having access to the Tree of Life. They were deceived. And, of course, God fully understands that far more than any of us, really. And yet, if we back up to Ephesians chapter 4, I want to tie this together with the unity that each of us should pray for.

Because this is what Jesus prayed for. He says, I want the people of God to be in such unis and in such oneness, in such closeness, that it is. It is remarkable. It is godly. And in Ephesians 4, Paul tells the church in Ephesus, I therefore, the prisoner and the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you've been called with all humility and with all gentleness and with patience and forbearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

See, whenever we are, each of us individually, seeking a peace that comes from being united with Jesus Christ and with God our Father and then with one another, well, then we exemplify the work that God is doing in his family. He is drawing us together to share in the love of God.

So the first thing that Jesus prays about here in John 17 is that his children, the children of God, the brothers and sisters that would make up the discipleship and that would later make up the Church of God down through the last 2,000 years, that they would be in oneness with God. The second thing, and we go back to John 11 or excuse me, John 17 again, in verse 11, he starts talking to them and telling them or praying about them to the Father, and he asks the Father to protect them from the evil that is in this world. That's what he tells them in verse 11. He says, now I'm no longer in the world, but they're going to be in the world, and I'm going to come to you, only Father, I want you to protect them in your name, that they may be given those that you have given me so that they may be one as we are one. See, again, he's asking about this protection. In verse 12, he says, while I was with them, I protected them in your name that you had given me. See, Jesus had a great deal of appreciation for those who were following him. He loved them. He had to, in essence, lead them and guide them. He had to correct them. You know, they were often kind of off the path. That didn't bother Jesus at all. He says, I've drawn you together. The Father has drawn you to me in order to fulfill a divine purpose. And even though they were going to call down fire out of heaven and crush those who were opposing Jesus, Jesus said, no, that's not what we're doing. We're not doing that. And they, you know, would go on onto other things that he was concerned about him. He says, while I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me and I guarded them and not one of them has been lost, except the one destined to be lost so that scripture will be fulfilled. So he mentioned Judas here. He knew that was going to happen. He knew the purpose of that. And yet, in verse 13, now I'm coming to you and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

And I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. See, how much more clear was he going to be that his disciples were going to come out of the world? They were not going to continue to be polluted by the world. They were going to be relieved from that, even that designation, that description.

And he says they don't belong to the world just as I don't belong to the world in verse 14. But in verse 15, he says, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but I am asking you to protect them from the evil. Protect them from the evil one. The influences that Satan has in this world are tremendous. And yet Jesus prayed for his disciples and he prayed for those who would later be his disciples that they have a protection from the evil one, from the influence that Satan has. We've all been affected by the prince of the power of the air and we're affected by that today if we're not on guard against it. And if we're not asking God to protect us from that, there's a couple of other verses I want to tie together with this in Philippians chapter 2. Again, another incredible section to read at this time because it describes the humility that Jesus has. But in Philippians chapter 2 verse 12, he says, therefore my beloved, talking to the church, talking to people who would fit the category of those who would believe in the words of the disciples, he says, my beloved, therefore, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation. Work out your own salvation with fear and with trembling. For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. And down in verse 15, he says, so that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation in which you are to shine like stars in the world.

See, that was Paul's description of, in essence, the same thing that John was writing about.

You know, you are not a part of the world. You are to be coming out of the world. We are to identify that and recognize that and then identify with the help of the Spirit of God the protection, the protection and guidance that God provides us. And in 2 Thessalonians, you see Paul writing about this again. And of course, in this case, he's talking to the church in Thessalonica. But in 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, toward the end of this book, he's finally concluding what he has to say here. And he says in verse 1, finally, brethren, pray for us so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere just as it is among you, and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful and He will strengthen you and He will guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you that you are doing the will or doing that you are doing and will do, going, continuing to do the things that we have commanded. See here, again, the protection that Jesus is praying for is to be able to withstand the pressure that we have in the world, but to be able to be empowered to overcome, to be empowered that we have the help of God and that we have His protection and that we are able to be shining as stars at night and that we are able, you know, to reflect light, but there will also be understanding our protection that God has made. So not only does Jesus pray in John 17 about the oneness that His disciples are to have and the protection that God is He's asking them to provide, but finally He says here in John 17 verse 17, I want you to sanctify them. Sanctify them. Set them apart. He says in verse 17, sanctify them in your truth. Sanctify them because your word is truth.

And as you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

See, they were going to be set apart by the Word of God. They were going to be identified by not only the love of God that God would cause to grow in them, but they were going to be set apart by an understanding of the Word of God. And in verse 19, He says, for their sake, I sanctify myself so that they may be sanctified in truth. See, how important is it that we honor the Word of God, that we not only study the Word of God on a regular basis, knowing that that's what actually sanctifies us. With the help of the Word of God and with the Spirit of God, God empowers us to be His servants and to do His work. I mentioned last time how that in Revelation 12, it talks about Satan having but a short time and that he was angry with the church. He was angry with those who would choose to honor God with their lives. Well, I want us to look at John, or excuse me, Revelation 12 again, but focus on what it says. Revelation 12.

In verse 12, well, that's the verse that says, Satan knows he has a time that is short. But down in verse 17 is what I want to focus on. Revelation 12 verse 17, he says, Then the dragon was angry with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God, and those who hold the testimony of Jesus Christ.

See, how is it that we're sanctified by God's Word? Well, you know, we not only read it, we not only desire to obey it, but that we understand that that Word is what gives us life. What Jesus said about His teaching was that my words are spirit and they are life. In John 6, 63, he was pointing that out. He was wanting others to understand the value of what he had to say.

And actually, if we back up here in John chapter 16, you see Jesus, even as He was telling His disciples that in chapter 15, He talked to them about Him being divine and how they needed to be connected to Him. If they were not connected to Him, then they would simply be burned up. They would be branches that would not produce fruit or bear fruit. But in chapter 16, verse 1, He says, I'm saying these things to you so that you won't stumble. I'm saying these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues and indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that they're doing God a service.

They'll think that they're doing so as they do so, that they're offering worship to God. And they will do this because they do simply not know the Father, nor do they know Me. But I have said these things to you so that what when the hour comes, you may remember this and remember what I told you, that I warned you, that I prepared you, that I nurtured you in the Word of God.

See, whenever you analyze John chapter 17, you see Jesus emphasizing the blessing it was for His disciples and for those who would become His disciples, how that they could be, how they could be, in essence, empowered, how they could be uplifted, how they could have a closeness to God, that they could have a unity and a harmony with one another and with God.

If we have it with God, then we will have it with one another. It will be a byproduct of the love of God that is shed abroad in us, but that He also would give us power to be protected, to overcome. And then finally, to simply honor the Word of God, to be grateful that we can study the Word of God and that God will grant us understanding.

And actually, I think you find that this all ties together with what we read in the book of Colossians chapter 1. Now, again, Paul is weaving through many different books a same understanding of the purpose of human life, of how it is that we've been called to be a part of God's divine family.

And in understanding how that's achieved, it's achieved through the working of the Holy Spirit, but it's achieved through a relationship with the Father and with the Son. And here in Colossians chapter 1, Paul says in verse 24, I'm now rejoicing in my suffering, in my flesh.

I'm completing what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of His body. That is the church. And so obviously, he was speaking about those members of the church, and he says, I became His servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you to make the Word of God fully known.

That was Paul's understanding of how he was to elaborate on his understanding of the purpose and plan of God. So he said, I've been commissioned to make the Word of God fully known. The mystery in verse 26 that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints.

To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery. And then he describes what that mystery is. That mystery which is Christ in you.

The hope of glory. It is He whom we proclaim, mourning everyone, teaching everyone all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Jesus Christ. See, we can never get away from the value that Jesus Christ has for us. And as we study what He had to say, as we study what He desired for us, this is what He and the Father were working out long before man was even created. He was working out and designing a plan where ultimately human beings can be drawn into a relationship with God through the power of the Holy Spirit where Christ actually lives in us. Where we reflect Him. We understand His example. We appreciate what He has to say, but more so we appreciate what He does in our lives. And actually Jesus concludes this in John 17. When He says, we've studied most of the sections here, but to finalize what we want to say, see here in John 17, Jesus says, verse 23, I am them and you and me that they may become completely one. And down then in verse 24, Father, I desire that those also whom you have given me may be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Again, Jesus' understanding of what His purpose, what His plan, what His mission was, was very, very clear. His relationship with His Father was very clear, and He wanted His brothers and sisters, those that would be drawn with the power of the Holy Spirit, He wanted them to relate to the Father just like He did. And here He's talking about, you know, verse 24, I desire that those may be with me where I am to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. You know, that's a wonderful blessing to be able to think about how it is that God wants us to be in unity with Him, how He's willing to protect us, and how He's willing, how He's willing to work with us so that we are reflecting His words. That's what we're to do as the people of God. That's what we have a responsibility of doing. But I hope that in going over this, that we can see God's desire to dwell with us.

He wants us to desire to dwell with Him, but He has a desire that He wants to dwell with us. He wants to live in us, and He does that through the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to be at one, enabling us to be protected from evil, but then also sanctifying us by the Word of God. And I ask over the next couple of weeks as you prepare for the Passover that we not only examine ourselves, because sometimes that can be a little discouraging, and it shouldn't be. He tells us to do that. He tells us to do that so that we know what to repent of, but more than that, and far more than that, perhaps, He wants us to see the type of oneness, the oneness that the family of God will have when we can be united with God and with Jesus Christ in His glory. He says we can have the glory that Jesus has, and He wants us to pursue that. He wants us to appreciate that. He wants us to grow in that, and thankfully, you know, He continues to reveal His purpose and His plan for mankind. He does that in a particular way. He's doing that, as He says, as Jesus said, by those that you, the Father has drawn to me. And so we have a wonderful blessing in knowing that, brethren, and I hope that it can be more meaningful, and it can be more uplifting than any previous year, as we keep the days of Unleavened Bread, but prior to that, as we observed the Passover here in 2016.