"3 Specific Things Jesus Prayed For His Church" Part 1 John 17 Part 6 by Kathryn Kuhlman part 6 in her "John 17 Series"

I'm going to begin exactly where I left off regarding this beautiful communion that Jesus was having with the Father. This very personal thing, this holy thing, this sacred thing. It's recorded in the 17th chapter of John, and I pray that this portion of the Word of God will never again be something very ordinary to you. It'll be something that'll be very sacred. Study it. Reverence it. Read it often. I shall begin with the ninth verse. of the 17th chapter of John, for now we have come to this place when Jesus is talking about those who have been born again, those whom the Father had given unto him. I pray for them. Now, whenever he says, I pray for them, I believe that he is saying to the Father, now, These are the things that I desire for them. We talk about praying, but praying really is a desire. When we come before the Father's throne, we are expressing a desire. We say we pray. But prayer is the desire of a human heart. When I come before the throne of God, I say I am praying. Prayer is worship. It's adoration. It is expressing a desire. It is never a command. Always know that. That's the reason I fear and I tremble sometimes when I hear some people who are praying and it is as though they are demanding. god to do something they literally sound as though they are commanding god to carry out something that they want be very careful how you approach the throne of god who are we frail creatures of the dust To demand, to command God to do anything. When we're dependent on him for his mercy, for every drop of rain, for every sunbeam, for the next beat of our heart, just sit there a moment and consider something as vitally important for just a moment and something a few people really stop to consider. Every man. who is a part of humanity this very moment, regardless of his high position, his prestige, his wealth, his influence, he's dependent on God for the next beat of his heart. And that heart can stop any second. And all the money in the world, all the influence in the world, the whole medical profession cannot keep it going after God puts a finger on it and it stops. And yet we act as though we are ruling God. Be careful how you pray. Prayer is a desire that's expressed when you come into the presence of the Father. So that when Jesus is saying here, I pray, remember it's in terms of I desire for them. And this is the desire that Jesus had for us. for the world. Now remember something. Do not get the wrong impression here. There may be those who feel as though Jesus is not concerned about those who are lost because there are only two classes of people in the world. Those who have found the Christ as their Savior and those who are still outside of the kingdom of God. The regenerated and the unregenerated. Now, in the sight of God, they're all only two classes. It's not a matter of whether you're black or whether you're white. It's not a matter of whether you're Catholic or whether you're Protestant. It's not a matter of whether you're Jew or you're Gentile. It's have you accepted the Christ? Have you accepted the Messiah? Have you been born again? I haven't. Now, when he talks about the world, I pray not for the world. He's talking about now the desire that he is expressing for his own. His love for all mankind was so great that he died for all. The unregenerated as well as those who have accepted the Christ. He's not willing that any should perish. If you are still a part of the world, that's not his will. It's because you had chosen to still be outside in the world. If when death comes, you are still lost, your soul being damned, you have no one else to blame but yourself. You had... been damned in spite of everything that the Father has done for you, in spite of everything that Jesus has done for you, in spite of everything that the Holy Spirit has done for you. You have taken that will and you are mastered by your own will. Remember, you are a kingdom unto yourself. Every man, every woman is a kingdom unto himself. You control, you say whatever you want to. You can blame it on somebody else and say, I'm controlled by someone else. Oh, no, you're not. You're a free moral agent. You have a will separate apart from the will of anyone else. And remember, you can exercise that will under all circumstances. You make the choice. When you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, you have no one else to blame but yourself. Every man, every woman makes his own choice when it comes to these things, when it comes to spiritual things, when it comes to God. So when he says here, I pray not for the world, of course he's talking about the unregenerated, but after this time he is expressing his... desire for his own, even though in just a matter of hours he would be dying for all the sins of the world. When he died on the cross, when he gave his life, he did not die for just a few. He did not die for just those who've accepted him as a savior. He literally died. Died for the world. He gave his life for every man. And if you're still in the world, it's because you have made the choice. You desire to still be in the world. And it's in spite of and not because of. All right? So now remember, as we go a little deeper into this... Posting his prayer, he's expressing to his father his desire for these that the father had given him. Three desires. As I told you before, they were so different than probably the desire that I would have expressed. I would have said, don't let suffering Don't let any pain come to them. How often in dedicating little babies and I hold that little bundle of flesh in my arm and I'm dedicating to the Lord. If people only knew my thoughts. Over and over, I think, oh dear Jesus, don't let this little child have to suffer in his lifetime. Keep this body so well. Just touch this mind. May it be a good mind, a healthy mind. Keep this baby healthy. Don't let anything happen to his little limbs, his little body. I'm human. And that's what I pray. Because my emotions are involved, you know. Do you realize that Jesus didn't say to the Father, Father, I desire. That they're never hungry. I desire that they should never be in one. I desire that they should never suffer. He didn't say that at all. Watch his three desires. First, keep them in thy name. Oh, that's thrilling. That's wonderful. Keep them in thy name. He knew that there would be false religions, false Christs, false gods. He knows human nature better than anyone who's ever lived. He knew the treachery of Satan. He knew the deceptiveness of Satan. And wherever there is a genuine, there's always a counterfeit. Always, wherever you'll find the genuine, you'll find the counterfeit. And lit! Truly, there have been thousands of counterfeits down through the generations. There's only one name, his name. Jehovah God. Know that. Anything else is a counterfeit. Anything else is supposition. Anything else. He knew the deceptiveness of Satan. He knew it. Keep them in thy name, his name, Jehovah God. And we come boldly before the Father's throne in the name of Jesus, the very Son of the living God. There is no other name by which man is saved. There is no other name by which there is eternal life. None. There is not eternal life through the name or the person of Confucius. There is no eternal life through the name of Buddha. There is no eternal life through the person, of anyone else save the person, the son of the living God, Jehovah God. And if we are kept in his name, God first, then all these other things shall be added unto you. And we won't have to worry about the suffering. We won't worry about the other provisions. We won't have to worry about the material things. If we are kept by him, keep them in thy name. Oh, my friend. What does the name of Jehovah God mean to you? I know what it meant to Abraham. I know what it meant to Moses. I know what it meant to Elijah when he stood there literally challenging the prophets of Baal. courage to stand there and challenge the false prophets because he had confidence in Jehovah God. His name. His name. His marvelous name. confidence Abraham had and because of his confidence remember down to the generations to this very hour in which we are now living that name is still giving power and security dying And there is no other name by which men can be saved. What's the second thing? That they may be one. Even as we are. Consider that. That's so deep. That's so marvelous. That oneness, that glories, there's nothing that can equal oneness. If I could only have the ability to convey to you the full meaning of these things in relation not only to the spiritual, but in our everyday living, this oneness that he's talking about. If there can be that oneness between husband and wife, there would be no divorce. I'm saying something. I don't care what happens. If there can be that oneness that there is between the father and the son, never. Our divorce courts would be empty. There would be no divorce. Because, you see, troubles will come. And there will be misunderstandings. Because we're a part of humanity. We're still in the flesh. There's still witnesses of the flesh. No man is perfect. No woman is perfect. If you're looking for the perfect woman to marry, then you better not get married. If you're looking for the perfect man to marry, the perfect man for a husband, forget it. Don't get married. Because there's not a perfect man living, there's not a perfect woman living. If you're looking for a preacher who is perfect, if you're going around looking for a perfect man to be your pastor, then you better not look. Any further for a pastor? If you think Catherine Kuhlman is perfect, I can sit here the rest of the day and tell you all my imperfections. I am not perfect. Only one who ever walked this earth was ever perfect. The Son of God. Remember that. But in spite of the... imperfection that you may see in your wife or the imperfection that you see in your husband. There are weaknesses in every life. If there is a oneness between the two of you, nothing would be able to shake your confidence in each other. There'll never be a divorce. Never. It's when there's no longer that oneness that trouble begins. In a family. Now, follow me very closely. Because all of this, what is true in the spiritual, is also true in everyday living. It's just like that. See, that's the reason Bible principles, we've got to live according to the Word of God. We've got to live according to the laws of God. We've got to live according to God's principles. That's what's wrong with the world today. We're trying to throw the whole thing out, do away with it. And having done away with it, we find ourselves in such a big mess now, we can't cope with anything. We cannot. cope with a thing. We can't cope with ourselves. We can't cope with our families. We can't cope with our children. We can't cope with world affairs because we've thrown God's principles away. We've thrown morality away. We've thrown ethics away. We've thrown God's laws out of the window. We're trying to make laws of our own. We think we're smarter than God and we find out what fools we really are. This is the second thing that Jesus asks for his own, that they may be one even as we are. If you can be one with your husband, one with your wife, one with your son, one with your daughter, one with your children, that's what's wrong with the home. The children and the parents are no longer one. And that's where the trouble is. When they were all with one accord, the Holy Spirit came and descended upon them. Remember the importance of oneness.