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John 17:12-19 JESUS PRAYING FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF HIS DISCIPLES

Introduction:
	
	The word, sanctification, does not mean "Sinless
perfection."  Rather, it  means "To be set apart for a
particular purpose."  With reference to spiritual matters it
means, "To set apart for the worship and work of God."  In
other words it means "To be dedicated to God and to the
worship and service of God."
	In our text last Sunday Jesus began to pray for His
disciples who would be left behind in the world after His
return to heaven.  In our text today He continues that same
prayer them.  In this text He prays especially for their
sanctification.

I.  The disciples kept by Jesus while He was on earth

	V. 12, "While I was with them in the world..."   Both
Jesus and His disciples were in the world.  They were
exposed to the erroneous religious teachings of the world.
Since they were in the land of Israel they were especially
exposed to the erroneous doctrines and practices of the
Jewish scribes and Pharisees.  They were also exposed to the
erroneous teachings of the Essenes and the Herodians who
each had a sizable following in Israel at that time.
	There was, of course, no possibility whatsoever that
Jesus would be led astray by their erroneous teachings and
practices.  But there was the constant danger that one or
more of His disciples might be led astray.
	In addition to the false religious teachings to which
the disciples were exposed, they were exposed to the
constant temptations of Satan, who like a roaring lion went
about seeking whom he may devour.  He constantly bombarded
the disciples with temptations of all sorts.  You can
understand what problem this posed for the disciples because
he bombards us with the same kind of temptations every day.
There was the temptation to be untruthful, to be dishonest,
to be immoral, to be violent, to be greedy, to use foul
language.
	(V.  12), "...I kept them in thy name..."  That is,
Jesus had guarded them.  He had protected them.  He had
personally warned them of dangers.  He had personally led
them and encouraged them.  He had even rebuked them when
necessary.  As a member of the Holy Trinity, He was Deity
God dwelling with them helping them to overcome the evil
influences of Satan and of the world.  Furthermore, He had
protected them from the cruel accusations which the scribes
and Pharisees hurled at them.  He had protected them like a
shepherd protects his sheep.  He had protected them with the
same love and compassion that a shepherd protects his sheep.
	(V. 12), "...those that thou gavest me I have kept, and
none of them is lost..."  All who had ever been saved were
still saved.  He had kept them saved.  There was not one
saved person among them whom Jesus had failed to keep.
	There was, however,  one person among them who was lost.
(V.  12), "...but the son of perdition..."  One of the
apostles was lost.  Judas Iscariot was lost.  But Judas had
not lost his salvation.  Judas had never been saved.  Jesus
did not lose Him and Judas did not lose his salvation.  He
just never was saved to start with.  "Have not I chosen you
twelve and one of you is a devil," John 6:70.   He was a
devil when Jesus chose him.  Jesus called him, "the son of
perdition." That is, he was a man who from the beginning was
unsaved.
	(V. 12), "...that the scripture might be fulfilled."  In
this statement Jesus revealed why an unsaved man had been
chosen to be an apostle.  He had been selected because he
was the kind of man who would allow Satan to use him to
betray Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees.  Jesus needed
such a man to betray Him.  Furthermore, Old Testament
prophecy had foretold that one of His own followers would
betray Him and it was necessary that the Scripture be
fulfilled.

II.  The request of Jesus for the Father to keep them

	V. 13, "And now come I to thee; and these things I speak
in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves."  While Jesus was in the world with the
disciples, He had kept them.  Now that He was about to leave
He asked the Father to keep them.  In this statement Jesus
spoke of the things which He had said to them in the lessons
which He had taught them earlier in the evening.  At the
suppers in Jerusalem Jesus had taught them several lessons.
Then on the road to Gethsemane He had taught them several
more lessons.  The things that He had taught them were
designed to help them experience the fullness of joy in
Jesus.  Jesus did not wish for them to experience sadness
and grief at His own suffering.  Rather He wanted them to
have such faith in Him that they would anticipate His
resurrection and experience joy.
	V. 14, "I have given them thy word..."  Jesus had well
fortified His disciples with the word of God.  Not only this
very night had He spoken to them the truths of God, but all
during His ministry He had taught them the word of God.
There had been no failure on His part to teach them.  He had
grounded them in the truths of God.
	(V. 14), "...and the world hath hated them, because they
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."  The
unsaved people of the world already hated these men.  The
Jewish leaders hated them because they were loyal to Jesus
and to the words which Jesus had taught.  The masses of
common people hated them, not only for the same reason, but
they hated them all the more because they were influenced by
the Jewish leaders to hate them.
	The disciples of Jesus just were not of the same frame
of mind as the people of the Jewish world.  In their earlier
years they had fit right in with the world, but now that
they had trusted in Jesus for the salvation of their souls,
now that they were born again, now that they were taught
from the mouth of the Son of God, they did not believe the
same things which the Jewish leaders preached and taught.
They did not live the same kind of lifestyle which the
Jewish leaders lived.  Neither did they believe and live
like the great masses of common people in Israel.  They were
simply no longer like the people of the world about them.
Just as Jesus Christ was not of this world, even so His
disciples who were born again were not of this world.  They
did not have things in common with the world any more.
	You who are saved ought to be able to identify with that
because you are not like the world any more.  You do not
think like the world and you do not behave like the world.
	V.  15, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of
the world,"  Jesus did not want God the Father to take them
out of the world.  Rather Jesus wanted the Father to provide
protection for them in the world.  Quite obviously, the
quickest and easiest and more permanent way of protecting
them would be for the Father to just take all of His
disciples out of the world at the same time He took Jesus
out of the world.
	But that is not what Jesus wanted.  He wanted them to
remain in the world to carry on the work that He had for
them to do.  He wanted them to carry the gospel to all the
world.  He wanted them to organize churches throughout the
world.  He wanted them to teach the truths that He had
taught them.  He wanted them to train those who would get
saved.  He wanted their light to shine in the darkness of
the world.  Their godly lives would be a testimony of the
power of God with them in their ministry.
	(V. 15), "... but that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil."  In the original language Jesus literally said, "Evil
one."  He was not asking God the Father to take His
disciples out of the world, but He was asking the Father to
keep them from the Evil One.  That is, He was asking the
Father to protect them from the evil power and evil
influence of the Devil.  Jesus knew that the Evil One would
be after them as soon as Jesus was gone.  The Evil One would
seek to destroy their character.  He would seek to destroy
their influence.  He would seek to destroy their testimony
the same as he seeks to destroy the testimony of the saved
today.  But Jesus asked God the Father to protect them from
the evil one.
	These men had been born again and did not have the same
inward character as the people of the world.  Rather because
these people were born again, they had a likeness to the
character of Jesus.  Just as Jesus did not fit in with the
world, even so they did not fit into the world.  V. 16,
"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

III.  Sanctification through the word of God

	In verse 17 Jesus made one final request on behalf of
His disciples who had been with Him during His personal
ministry.  V. 17, "Sanctify them through thy truth..."  I
pointed out to you that the word sanctify, as it is used
with reference to religious matters, means being dedicated
to God --- consecrated to God.  Jesus was asking God the
Father to guard those men who had walked with Him and
develop them into men who were fully dedicated to God.  He
was asking God the Father to use them to continue the work
that He had begun here on earth.
	He was asking God to do this through the word of God.
"...thy word is truth."  He was asking God the Father to use
the word of God which He had taught to them.  He was asking
that the Holy Spirit of God help them to remember and to
understand the things He had taught them.  It takes the word
of God to develop men, women, boys and girls into strong
Christians.  There is no substitute for the word of God.
There is no program which can take the place of the word of
God.  There is no way to develop into a strong Christian
without a good understanding of the word of God.
	Specifically, Jesus asked God the Father to sanctify His
disciples to the task of carrying the gospel to the world.
He was asking God to help them to become devoted to the task
of spreading the gospel message far and near in the world.
V. 18, "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I
also sent them into the world."  He had already sent them on
tours throughout the land of Israel preaching the gospel
message.  He would soon give the Great Commission
instructing them to go into all parts of the world and to
preach the gospel to every creature.  He needs men who are
saved and sanctified --- who are set apart to the worship
and work of God.

IV.  The example which Jesus had set

	V. 19, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself..."  Jesus
had been dedicated to task of coming into this world and
carrying out the work that God the Father had assigned Him
to do.  By the time that He would leave to return to heaven,
He would have finished every thing that the Father had
instructed Him to do.  He would have spoken every word that
the Father had assigned Him to say.  He will have provided a
way of salvation for all men, including these very
disciples.  He had dedicated Himself to the Father's work
for their sake.  He was now about to go to the cross for
their sake.  He had set a perfect example in being dedicated
to God.
	(V. 19), "...that they also might be sanctified through
the truth."  Now He desires that they will follow His
example and be sanctified.  He wanted them to be dedicated
to God the Father just as He had been.  He is calling upon
God to use His word to lead them, to teach them, to guide
them and to help them to grow into that kind of Christians.
	As those men listened to Jesus pray this prayer to God
for them, indirectly He was speaking to their own hearts
challenging them, encouraging them to be as dedicated to God
the Father as He had been.
	Now today through the reading of this text and the
preaching of His word, Jesus is calling upon each one who is
lost to believe the gospel message and to trust in Him and
be saved.  Furthermore, He is calling upon each one of us
who is saved to be sanctified to God.  He wants us to be
dedicated to the worship of God.  He wants us to be
dedicated to the work of God here in this community and in
the whole world.  He wants us to be dedicated to the study
of His word and to be dedicated to the living of His word.
He wants us to be dedicated to His cause.
	
Conclusion:
	
	If there is anybody here this morning I am certain that
Jesus does not want you to leave this building unsaved.  So
I am calling upon you to place your faith in Jesus Christ
and be saved.  I am also calling upon you to come forward
and to profess Jesus Christ as your Savior so that Jesus
will get public honor and glory for saving your soul.
	If there is anybody here this morning who is saved (and
I am sure that there is) I am calling upon you to sanctify
yourself to the worship and work of God.  If there is anyone
who should come forward to place your membership here to
serve the Lord then I am asking that you come forward and
let your desire be known.  If for some other reason you
should come, then come while we sing.