Words of Jesus 63

• 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.

To reject Jesus is to reject the way to God and eternal life. Jesus was given the power to give eternal life. There is no other way to God and no other way to be saved from the judgment that is coming upon the whole earth. Jesus gave Himself and made the only sacrifice that is sufficient to save us from sin. If we reject that sacrifice, there is no other way of salvation. Also to return to the type of worship they had in the Old Testament using priests as intercessors is no longer necessary. Why? Jesus made the permanent sacrifice for all sins. The blood of animals was a type and figure of what was to come. They really had no power to save and change the inner person. The blood of Jesus was the only way or God would never have allowed His own Son to die in such a manner.

We are not to trust in animal sacrifices, ordinances, rituals and other religious works to save us. Jesus' death on the cross did away with those things. We do not need a priest to intercede with rites and ceremonies. Neither do we need to pray to Mary. Jesus is the only way to God now. That is the whole reason Jesus came to die for sins. It is to open the way back to God and give us freedom from sin and eternal life. He is the only one we are to trust in. Any religious act by a man, priest or religious leader is actually a rejection of Christ. It is saying Christ's death wasn't good enough. Once we receive Jesus Christ, we have access to the throne of God. The wall of separation is broken. We now can pray to God without an intercessor whether it is a prophet, priest or saint.  If Jesus saves us and cleanses us from sin, we don't need anyone but Him to have access to God. 

When we become believers, our job now is the preach the gospel and win the lost to Jesus Christ.  We are not to get people to depend on us but on Jesus Christ alone. We need to have fellowship with one another but the center of attention and worship should be on Jesus Christ, not on the priests, prophets, bishops, ministers or any person other than Christ. Jesus is the door, He is the shepherd and the rest of us are humble sheep and followers of Christ. We are not to get people's eyes on any church, person or organization for their salvation but on Jesus Christ alone. He is sufficient to save from sin. 

We do not need all the religious works that we have added to the gospel over the years. Those things do not save and cannot change anyone's heart or life. They were used in the Old Testament to point the way to the perfect sacrifice to come. Now that He has come and made that perfect sacrifice, the religious works and rituals are no longer necessary. Now we can worship Him in thanksgiving and love for what He has done when we gather together and preach the word so that we can grow in the Lord and in our understanding of Him. Any ceremony or ordinance to save from sin apart from simple faith in Jesus is a waste of time. Religion does not save, Jesus does.

In saying all the above, this does not mean that we become loners and forsake assembling together for worship. Meeting with other believers to worship, pray and sing together is very necessary to strengthen our faith and allow the gifts of teaching, preaching and prophecy, to work among us. This will encourage us when we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We also need faithful leadership to keep out the ungodly things that the enemy uses to hinder worship services. The writings of Paul teaches more about public worship. It doesn't mean that we can't pray and intercede for others who are going through a trial or need a special touch from the Lord.

• John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
• 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 proof that Jesus came from Heaven and returned there after His resurrection. He was in the beginning with the Father and was always in existence. Imagine Jesus who was with the Father for all past eternity, leaving that position to become a human so that He would reverse the curse Adam brought upon all mankind. This reversal can only come upon those that believe and receive this gift. Nothing is forced upon us. It's by our own freewill that we receive Jesus Christ.

• John 17:6 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.

Before Jesus came we did not know God or His name. We were separated from God because of sin that entered the world at the fall of Adam.

• John 17:7 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.

Once we come to Christ, it is His will that we continue in the faith and not fall away. We are to continue in the word and in truth.

• John 17:12 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.

The Son of perdition was Judas who betrayed Jesus.

• John 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
• 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.

If we find ourselves hating God's people or hating the word of God, it shows that we are not of God. When we resist the truth we are children of the devil, not God. Children of God will love the word and love those that bring the word.

• John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Everyday evil surrounds us as believers. Jesus prayed for us to be kept from the evil in the world while we are still living in the world. We are not to love the world and be partakers of it's evil because Jesus gave us power to not be part of it although we live in it.

• John 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
• 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The word sanctifies and cleanses us. When we hear or read to the point of accepting what the word says, it will sanctify us. It not only cleanses but sets us apart from the world and makes us vessels of the Holy Spirit.

• John 17:18 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 didn't need to be cleansed from sin so to sanctify here means to set Himself apart for the work of God to bring salvation to all who believe.

• John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Here we see Jesus praying not only for those in His day but for us who will believe the word through their testimony. We believe today because of faithful servants of Jesus Christ who brought the word to us, translated that word into our language and preached the word by the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.

• John 17:21 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.

We are to be one in spirit and in truth but never accept a false unity that embraces all doctrines and compromises sin.

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

The world does not know Jesus. The world are those that abide in darkness and have not believed the word that brings light. The world hates the light because it exposes their sin. The world is the opposite of the will of God. Jesus came to save us out of the world's deceptive spirit and into the truth of the word and shows us the way to eternal life. This is for all and everyone who will simply believe in the one God sent to us, Jesus Christ.

Christ alone saves, there is no other. Christ alone brings salvation from sin.

Words of Jesus Part 64

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