Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2004 : May 23, 2004
Jesus Is Praying for All Believers
Easter 7
This past Thursday we celebrated Jesus' ascension into heaven. Jesus spent 40 days on earth after his resurrection to convince his followers that he was alive. Armed with that knowledge as eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection, the disciples would turn the world upside down with the saving message of a crucified and now risen and ascended Savior. Jesus' work of redemption is complete and finished, but that doesn't mean that Jesus' work is done. In fact, this morning Jesus gives us a glimpse of how he is still at work at his Father's side on our behalf as our Great High Priest. One of the main things the priests did for God's people was to pray for them before God. Have you ever wondered what kinds of things Jesus is praying for right now for you? Let's find out this morning as we see that Jesus Is Praying for All Believers, that the gospel brings us unity, and that the gospel brings us glory.
We find Jesus in the upper room with his disciples, just hours before he would serve us as our Great High Priest by offering the ultimate, perfect sacrifice -- himself -- as the complete payment for all sin. As he faced his bitter agony in the Garden and the punishment of hell that he would suffer in our place on the cross, what and whom was he concerned about? You. After praying for the disciples that were with him, he prayed: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message." Who was Jesus thinking of just hours before his death? He was praying for everyone who would come to faith after the apostles spread the message of salvation. In other words, he was thinking of you that night, that the mighty gospel message that he would bring to fulfillment the next day on the cross would come to you and change your life forever.
What change would the gospel make in your life? Jesus prayed that all believers "may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Jesus prayed that as the gospel was preached, more and more people, including you, would be joined to him, and so also joined to God the Father. But the gospel wouldn't just stop with you; it would be proclaimed in word and action by everyone who believed its message through the Holy Spirit's power. And the result is that more and more would believe. I'm sure you've heard of pyramid schemes before. The idea is that if you get someone hooked up to whatever you're trying to sell, you get some benefit. The more people you sell your product to, the more kickbacks you're going to get. Pyramid schemes are illegal, but the idea behind them is genius.
And that's a picture you can think of when you think of spreading the gospel. Suppose this year you had as your goal telling four people about Jesus. They didn't believe in Jesus before this year, so the Holy Spirit would add four more names to the Book of Life by connecting them through faith to Jesus and so also to God. Then think what happens if those four people tell four more people the next year about Jesus who didn't know him before. There would be another 16 people the next year who are added to the Book of Life and connected to Jesus, and so to God. So in two years, 20 people would have come to faith and be connected to Jesus, and so to God. Do you know how many years it would take to have over 1,000,000 more people know about Jesus? Only 10 years. In the business world, that would be kind of like a monopoly. In the Christian world, that would be like -- amazing!
Jesus prayed that his gospel would start in Jerusalem but would spread; eventually the message would reach to the four corners of the world. That's how the gospel reached you. As a result, when the Holy Spirit caused you to believe the gospel, you were united with Christ and the Father, and with every other believer in the world who has ever lived and ever will live.
But there is problem. The devil wants to destroy the unity that believers have with Jesus and with each other. A pyramid scheme is based on being connected to others; otherwise it fails. A chain letter is the same way. I'm sure you've seen them on email. You are sent an email that tells you to send it to another ten people. You are "guilted" into sending it, or you run the risk of being the "weak link" in the chain letter that allows it to fall apart. As Christians, the devil wants you to be the weak link. He doesn't want you to tell those four other people about Jesus. In ten years, one million people wouldn't hear about Jesus. If you can influence that many people, just think how you could influence them throughout your lifetime! And then think of the flip-side of that coin -- think how much of a bad influence you could be in this world if you decide that following the devil's temptations aren't that big of a deal.
Even though all believers are united in faith, false teachings have broken us apart. Anger and resentment surface among believers. Satan sends out his allies, Dissention and Bitterness, to keep us from unity in Christ, and to draw us away from Christ back into his clutches. Have we fallen prey to these servants of the devil? Is there a grudge or argument that has divided you and another believer? All too often we succumb to these temptations. No, people don't see us as murderers or evil-doers, but dissention and bitterness are just as effective in keeping others away from Christ. Those who don't know Christ will look at us as believers, and when they see that our lives have bitterness, rage, anger, disputing and everything else, they certainly won't be eager to learn about Jesus, because, at least from their viewpoint, Christ doesn't change a person at all. And when those are the things we are focusing on in our lives, we certainly won't be focusing on what God wants us to be doing -- spreading the message of Jesus.
That's why Jesus prayed to his Father as he did in verse 23: "May [all believers] be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Our anger and bitterness will melt away when we see how much God loved us -- so much that he sent his own Son into this world to forgive every sin of anger or bitterness or hostility or dissention we've ever had. All of those sins are a result of us being separated from God because of our sins, as Isaiah said, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you." (Isaiah 59:2) But God didn't want us separated from him forever, so he sent his Son Jesus to restore the unity we had with God in the beginning of creation. As Isaiah also says of Jesus, "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
How does the Lord want us to use the forgiveness that is ours now through faith in Jesus? Paul tells us clearly: "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32) When we focus on the cross and open tomb of Christ, we will have the unity of the Spirit that flows from forgiveness, and many more will be drawn to Jesus as we reflect that unity in our lives.
But there would be another result that the gospel would bring to you. As Jesus Is Praying for All Believers, he not only prays that the gospel brings us unity, but that it also brings us glory. Jesus' prayer for you continues: "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." Jesus is not praying here that our lives would be free from all trouble and sorrow and pain because he tells us that we will still experience these things even as believers because we live in a sinful world and are still sinners ourselves. But as forgiven children of God, as we are united to Christ through the forgiveness he won for us on the cross and declared to the world through the open tomb, we have already received God's glory. Forgiveness is ours; heaven is ours -- all through faith in Jesus. Jesus tells us earlier in John's gospel: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24) That glory of God -- in other words, a life that is lived knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we stand before God in complete righteousness and holiness because we are united to Christ -- that glory of God is ours right now. We are fully justified, declared not guilty of any sin in God's eyes, right now.
But that is only part of the glory that God has in store for us. On this earth, even though we are holy in God's eyes through faith, we are still sinners. We still fall down daily in our lifelong walk with Jesus. And every day we need to be lifted up again through Jesus' forgiveness. But one day, when we leave this world in death or when Christ comes again, the full glory that God has given to us in Christ will be ours. We'll have our complete redemption in heaven, where there will be no more weeping or pain or sorrow or tears because there will be no more sin. And with sin and all its terrible affects gone for good, we will praise and serve our God for all eternity. That also is what Jesus right now is asking his Father for -- that you would remain in the faith until he takes you to the glories of heaven.
Think of it this way: A helicopter pilot was observing the traffic on a two-lane highway below him. He noticed one car that caught his attention. The driver was trying to pass a large truck, but because of oncoming traffic and no-passing zones, he wasn't able to pass safely. Every time he would try to pass, an oncoming vehicle would force him to retreat. The pilot, though, had the advantage of being able to see miles down the highway. He thought to himself, "If only I could talk to the driver and tell him what was coming so he could safely pass." Jesus, of course, is the ultimate Pilot. As God, he has a perfect knowledge of what you'll face in your life and how you can get through it. And he also can see the end of your road -- heaven. As he prayed for you those many years ago, so he continues to pray for you now: that his gospel bring you unity and that his gospel bring you glory. May God send his Holy Spirit to bless our lives with the unity and glory that are ours in Christ, until that day when we will join our God in perfect unity and glory in heaven. Amen.
