"I pray for them" John 17 Part 5 by Kathryn Kuhlman part 5 in her "John 17 Series"

I can only pray that the portion of word of God that I have been bringing to you in these heart -to -heart talks mean as much to you as they mean to me. Even as I speak with you regarding this prayer that Jesus prayed. His conversation with the Father. I feel like speaking softly because it's something very sacred. We are really on a holy ground. May I please read several verses now from the 17th chapter of John as we go into the next phase of this prayer. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may also glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 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. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 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 i pray for them i pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine the next few minutes I want you to see there's something that's vitally important because this is the part of the prayer that Jesus prayed for us. First of all, remember, he began this conversation with the Father, reminding the Father that in all the things he had glorified to the Father, that everything that he had done, He had but one purpose, one motive. That was to glorify the Father. Then he reminded the Father that he'd carried out the perfect trust that the Father had in him. I just love those words. I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished the work. which thou gavest me to do. He was talking about that confidence that the father had placed in him. And now he comes to that part where he's talking about you and he's talking about me. Read, if you will, please, now. In the next verse, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. See, something is vitally important. In the beginning, God the mighty Creator. He was the one who said, let us make man in our own image and after our likeness. God the great, the mighty creator, God almighty. I always like to think of him being the big boss. There's something about it. Even though the Holy Spirit may be equal in power with the sun, And the son equal in power with the father. There's something about God the father being the big boss. And I think that Jesus kept that in mind too. Even while he was talking to the father. That was the reason he addressed him as father. Wasn't it amazing? that Jesus addressed him as Father and always kept that status, always. And even while he was here on Earth, he kept reminding us of the status of the Father. He still is, he always will be, God Almighty, the Big Boss. All men created in his image and after his likeness. But there is something that changes here. And Jesus is talking, referring to those that thou hast given me. This is something that's vitally important to every born -again man, every born -again woman. Love is something that you do. God gave. God gave his son. After the same time, remember, Jesus gave to his church the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the greatest gift that is possible for him to give. After the same time, the Father gave to his son a gift. for having carried out his perfect will. Because Jesus could say, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, the Father turns and says, in essence, all right, son, this wonderful body of believers, every Christian, this bride of Christ, Every redeemed man and every redeemed woman, I give to you because you've carried out the plan of redemption perfectly. It's like that. It's like that. Again, you see, we're defying the laws of God by not giving. Again, the whole world is defying the laws of God. There's something in the very nature of God. There's got to be trust. There's got to be confidence. That's lacking in the world today. There's no trust. There's no confidence. Defying the very laws of God, everything is built on trust and confidence. We're defying the very laws of God by not giving. Who gives anymore? Let me ask you. Who gives anymore? back in the mind of every man and every woman is, okay, what am I going to get out of it? Until you almost feel like, almost without exception, every time something is given, you wonder what strings are to be attached to it. What price you're going to have to pay for the gift that was given to you. See, we define the laws of God, the very principles of God. Giving, giving, giving is the very nature of God. We have ceased to give unselfishly. We have ceased to give just because we love, just because we want to. That's when the world doesn't understand anymore. Don't you comprehend what I'm trying to say to you? We've got to get back to it. What I am saying about individuals, I'm saying about nations. And after all, nations are made up of individuals. We can't expect anything better in the world until man changes. Until the nature of man is changed. And only one can change the nature of man. Only one can change the heart of man. Only one can change the thinking of men. That's the power of God. That's the reason we need to come back again to God's laws and God's principles. It's giving. Giving. Because Jesus had carried out God's plan. God in turn gave to Jesus every human being who's been born again. These that thou has given unto me. Son, he's saying, they're your gift. I present them as your gift. That's the reason of the church. is so important, and we speak of these things that are so important so lightly. And when I talk about the church, I'm not talking about great religious institutions. I'm talking about the church, His church, the property of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gift that God the Father gave to His Son, men and women. who'd been born into this glorious body of believers. You know, we separate religion by saying he's a Jew. There's the temple. There's the rabbi. We speak of Catholicism. There's the pope. There's the Vatican. He's a Catholic. There's a great religious institution. We talk about Protestants. He's a Protestant. And he's Presbyterian. He's Baptist. And there is another religious institution. Take all of your religions. I'm not talking about religion now. I'm talking about individuals, whether they be Jew, Gentile, whether they be Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant. I'm talking about individuals who've had this spiritual new birth, this regeneration. And if you have had that spiritual experience, If you have accepted the Christ in the forgiveness of your sins, if you can look up and say, my heavenly father, and no man, no woman can say it honestly until after they have accepted his only begotten son, the very son of living God. as their great high priest in the forgiveness of their sins. If you can say that, I don't care who you are, your race, your nationality, I don't care what. You're my brother. You're my sister. And you've been born into this wonderful body of Christ. This body of believers that God the Father gave to Jesus as a gift. Don't you understand? If you don't feel anything, if you're not thrilled by this, then, my friend, there's not that relationship. You know? Sure. Oh, this is glorious. This is what it's all about. This is what it all means. So now Jesus, knowing that he has done his part, as the Son of God, that he has glorified the Father. He knows that he has done his part as one who's come to flesh, that he's carried out the perfect will of God. Knowing he has stayed true, he's still spotless. That'll still be holy blood. That'll be spotless blood that'll be shed on that cross in just a few hours. He goes to that cross with absolute confidence. He knows that when he dismisses his own spirit on that cross, he has carried out the plan in the most minute detail he knows. So between the father and the son, it's all right. It's all settled. Now he turns and he talks about those that thou hast given me. 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 the word. Oh, this sixth verse. When he begins to pray for the men about him. This is what's marvelous. And he said, I have manifested thy name to them. What name? God has only one name according to the biblical revelation. God is not a name. It's a designation. The Lord is not a name. It's a title. His name is Jehovah. Jehovah God. Jesus had borne that name, linked it with the thought of salvation. I have manifested thy name. Moses understood. Abraham understood. Elijah understood. The prophets understood. Understood perfectly. And he's saying to the Father, I have manifested thy name. That first group of men is Hebrews, knew that God had one name. God had said, this is my name. My name to all generations. Now Jesus said, I have manifested thy name to them. I have interpreted the meaning of the prophetic name that thou didst take for thyself in the long ago. Bede meant it by no means understood all that he had said to them or that he had revealed to them. I do not believe that John, as close as he was to Master, really understood everything that Jesus had told him. And there's Peter. Oh, dear, wonderful Peter. Even while Jesus was speaking many times, Peter's thoughts were miles away. Peter thought he understood, but I'll tell you something, Peter learned an awful lot in a very short time, just like many of us, you know. We can spend a lifetime learning, but suddenly something happens to us. Suddenly in sickness. Suddenly in an hour of disappointment. We can learn more in a few days than we've learned in our entire lifetime. It's amazing. I like that. Ever coming to the knowledge, but suddenly we learn. suddenly there's a revelation and we know. We sense the real values of life. It's marvelous. It's beautiful. No. The disciples, me thinks, didn't fully understand everything that Jesus was saying to them. Not always. But they did know. as jesus said what he said was that the word of god and that he was with god they understood that now for these men he expressed three desires and watch what these three desires are now you see if I had been in that same position, I would have said, please, wonderful father, don't let them suffer. These are mine. You've given them to me. Because when there's someone that we love, we don't want them hurt. We don't want them to suffer. You take a parent with a child. I don't believe that there's anything that hurts a parent more deeply than to see their youngsters suffer. To know that that child is in pain. I often wonder what kind of a mother I would have been. Because I want so very much to keep people from suffering. I can't stand to see people suffer. If I had had a child of my own, I don't think I could have stood it to have seen that child suffer. And perhaps if I had been in the position that Jesus was, I would have said, Don't let it be that thou hast given to me supper. Please and prosper them. Bless them. May they never want. May they have everything they want. Give them everything. No matter what it is, give them everything. May they never be hungry. May they never be cold. May they never want. They're my property. Did he pray that for them? Not once. You're going to be amazed when you and I go deep into this prayer. and see what he really asked of the father for you and for me.