In his sermon titled 'God Prays For and Keeps His Own,' James Lundquist explores John chapter 17, focusing on verses 9 through 11. Lundquist emphasizes the divine nature of Jesus, asserting that Jesus is God, a concept underscored by his prayer for his disciples and not for the world. This prayer highlights the special relationship between God, Jesus, and believers—a relationship rooted in love and divine purpose. Lundquist discusses the themes of unity, the transformative power of the Gospel, and the assurance of salvation, emphasizing that believers are a gift from God to Jesus. He notes that the transformation from a sinful state to a redeemed life glorifies God, and believers are kept safe by God’s power, likening Jesus’ role to that of a high priest. The sermon also addresses the importance of prayer among believers and the role of spiritual disciplines in maintaining unity and glorifying God.

Our sermon text for today is John chapter 17 verses 9 through 11. I'm going to back up and start in verse 6. Please follow along. I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours.

You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you. For I have given to them the words which you have given me, and they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

And all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world but these are in the world and I come to you. Holy Father keep through your name those whom you have given me that they may be one as we are. Let's pray. God, we ask that you'll bless the preacher, Lord, that you will speak through him.

Pour out your spirit on this congregation as we hear this message, God, that you pray that you will bless us this day. Amen. So that song we sang from Sovereign Grace is off their prayers of the Saints album. When I travel especially that is my favorite album and the one I play the most. The second most is her album called Psalms.

I highly commend the prayers of the saints to you. Fantastic, fantastic album there. Let's pray. Let's pray. Our God, I so thank you for giving us your word.

A Preacher doesn't have to stand up here imagining what to say about you, what you think about us, how you care about us, how you keep us, how you're glorified. You've given us your Word to show us, to teach us. Thank you so much for your words. So let your powerful word, O Holy Spirit, make this word powerful. Make it effective on us.

Give us ears to hear and eyes to see and to believe and to trust. So thank you now. Help us as we look into this perfect prayer of our Savior. Amen. I've titled this message, God Prays For and Keeps His Own.

God prays for and keeps his own. God prays for and keeps his own. It's not that I'm any smarter than anybody else, but if you look out there at titles of other sermons, mostly it will say, Jesus prays for his own, or your uninspired heading probably says, Jesus prays for his own, And literally that's true. But what I'm trying to help us with is that Jesus is God. And not to forget that.

That is so easy and that's a theme that we've seen throughout John. But it's so easy, especially in this prayer, as Jesus is praying and we have the Father gives to the Son and the Son is His and I am glorified. It's so easy to separate them out like we would think of human Father and Son. And I intentionally have God prays for and keeps his own and the titles of the points are God praise for them, God this, God this, to help us, just to help us remind us this is God praying to God. This is God praying to God and to help us with this.

We go through it. In verses 6-18, as I've said, the uninspired heading is Jesus prays for his disciples. And as was said last week, this is probably the 11th. The context makes it sound like it's the 11th. There may have been others.

I don't know when they would have gotten there between the upper room and wherever this has taken place. There could have been others. It's probably not about us until verse 20, but here's the main thing that Jason said last week that's so true. What he prays for is true no matter who he's talking about. There are truths here we will talk about that yes it's it's alluding to probably the 11 but they are still truths doctrinal truths here that are true for all believers.

I'm gonna say a lot today and we say it every week but especially today and especially through this prayer, Jesus is praying for them, who He's praying for, them Christians. A Christian is those that have repented and believed in the Gospel. We'll say more about that later. But when I'm using them, when I'm using us, it's talking about Christians. It's not talking about the world, which we'll talk about.

There were themes that Jason brought up last week that we'll still have this week. Two of the themes is the Father giving people to Jesus and the world. And we have two new themes this week that we'll see in future weeks being kept by God. We'll see that in verses 12 and then 15 in a couple weeks. And the unity, God's unity and our unity that we'll see in verse 11 and then in a few weeks in 21 through 23.

So let's start with looking at verse 9. John 17 verse 9, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours." Title of this, God prays for them. For them. I pray for them.

I do not pray for the world. If I said the them is probably the disciples, but what he's praying is true for all Christians. That's what we really want to look at here as we go through as well. The them, right? That's them.

The world is human society. This human society that our natural state is called worldly in the Bible. It's against God. John says this In 1 John 2, 16, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. That's who Jesus is talking about.

There are two people. Those that are Christ, have believed, repented, and believed in the gospel, believe in Christ alone for salvation, and those that haven't, they are the world. It doesn't matter what you think, no matter how good you think they are, if you have not believed and trusted in Christ alone for salvation, you are part of 1 John 2.16. You're the world. So why doesn't he pray for the world?

We should be asked that. It's not because he doesn't love the world. This isn't against John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So we know He loves the world. Right?

Jesus is concerned, we get this in verse 21, Jesus is concerned for those that are His own, that they may live lives that reach the world for the gospel. We'll get to that in verse 21, but at the end, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent Me. God does love the world. He does. He is given a way to be saved.

This prayer is directed towards those he has saved and those he will save. Those he will save are still in the world at this point. So he does love the world. I'm thankful he loved the world. I'm thankful these men went out and preached or you and I wouldn't be here.

So I'm thankful for that. Jesus' highest concern is for the glory of the Godhead. We saw that in verses 1 through 5. Let's remember that as we go through this highest concern for the glory of the Godhead and caring specifically for those the Father has given him, glorifies God. He's been given this gift And caring specifically for that gift glorifies God.

That's His concern. This precious gift that Jesus has been entrusted with is a special, dear, Beloved gift from the Father. That is you, that is me, if you're a Christian. And this is demonstrating his love for Jesus to give him this gift. He doesn't give him a gift that, because he hates him, it's out of love.

He would do anything for Christ. Out of love that Christ does anything for the Father. A perfect unified love. Jesus treasures us because we are Gods. We've been given to Him.

This is a specific prayer for specific people given by the Father. Another way to say this, this is a specific prayer for particular people, a distinct people. We're a separate people, we're individual people, We are the bride of Christ, but we are individually given to Christ. We are sanctified, we are set apart. This verse along with many others is where we get the doctrine of particular redemption.

You might have heard it called limited atonement. Jesus' salvific work is for particular people. He knew who he was dying for. It wasn't a generic death. He was like, I'm dying for something.

I hope it's for sins that are effective. I hope this helps. He knew exactly who he was dying for. He knew exactly you. He knew exactly all your sins.

He knows more of your sins than you'll ever know of your own sins. And he died for each one of them. Now as Gary was praying about Jesus, about this high priestly prayer. First of all, I'm encouraged when we hear prayers of men, there were a few this morning that just show it, you've looked at this, you've thought about it, just because men are praying doesn't mean others aren't. Others haven't done this, but that's so encouraging to hear.

So when we look at John 17, you know what John 17 is called? What we call John 17? Do the children know what we call John 17? Anybody? Call it the high priestly prayer.

Now, have you ever asked why we call it the high priestly prayer? Or ask yourself that, why do we call it the high priestly prayer? And Gary gave a great sermon on it right there. Right? It really is.

In the Old Testament we have these high priests and they have two primary functions when they go into the temple. The high priest has two primary functions. Sacrifices for sins and prayers. The high priest is a type of Christ, a shadow of Christ. So he's going in to make sacrifices, especially the Day of Atonement, sacrificing those lambs for the sins of the people to cover them with the blood.

And all of that was a shadow of Christ. So we know Christ coming up in the next chapters we'll be looking at sacrifices himself like that shadow. But what about the prayers? The high priest would go in with this ephod, go read Exodus 28, go in with this ephod, and it has two onyx stones on it, and on those onyx stones are engraved the twelve tribes of Israel, six on one, six on the other. And the high priest is going in on behalf of the tribes of Israel, on behalf of the people of God, and praying for them, making intercession, mediating for them.

This is Christ fulfilling the role of the high priest. We don't need a high priest anymore. This is Jesus fulfilling that role as our high priest. And unlike our prayers, unlike those high priestly prayers, what is the likelihood that God will do exactly what Jesus prays? A hundred percent.

Jesus is absolutely and can do nothing else but pray in the will of God. Jesus never asks to pray if the Lord wills. His prayers are perfect in accordance. His prayers are not like our prayers, where we're praying, Lord, if it will, or, or God, I'm praying that you would help me, or, or God give me faith. Jesus didn't need faith.

He's God, right? He's out. He doesn't need to ask for it. Jesus' prayers are in perfect accordance. Perfect accordance.

And everything he prays does happen. It does happen. Jesus now though, Jesus is praying here, I want to just talk about What Jesus is doing now. Here, as we mentioned before, Jesus has limited himself, not limited by anybody else but himself, he's limited himself in the incarnation. He's not face to face with God anymore.

He's limited himself in the incarnation, so he's praying. But what Jesus is doing now is what the Bible spells intercession. We see it in Paul's teaching and the writing of Hebrews says this as well. He's now interceding face to face at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He doesn't have to pray.

Pray is just like what we do. Because of distance, because of differences, we're not with God. If I'm with somebody, I'm not saying, well, I talk to somebody. No, I'm talking to you. And He's interceding with God directly now.

Hebrews 7, therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, Since he always lives to make intercession for them. I think somebody in their prayer mentioned that He always lives to make intercession for them. So I look this up The high priest how many high priests have there been since Aaron till the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Well, we don't know the exact number, but of the ones we know, there have been 87. Of the ones we know, and there are more, so there's more than 87, but of the ones that we can name, there were 87 high priests between Aaron and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.

They could not always live to make intercession. They could not. But Jesus, the perfect, last, high priest, always lives to make intercession for us. Because he's eternal. The priest, wonderful that God would set that up to give us that shadow, to give us those activities of shadows of Christ, wonderful, But we don't need them.

Because we have Christ always living to make intercession for us. So one more item before moving on from chapter, or from verse 9. The disciples are there. At least the disciples are there and they're hearing this prayer. Can you imagine how encouraging this prayer must be?

This must be, I don't know if it's the most encouraging thing they've heard from Christ, but it has got to be a great encouraging prayer that they are hearing from Christ. They're hearing that, God, you've given us to Christ, and Christ, you are doing, you've done these things, you've taught us, you've cared for us, you've protected us, you've done miracles around us, you've let us see all these, we believe you're the Christ, so you've saved us, and now listen to what you're saying about us. Look at how you're praying for us. They've just heard they would scatter and have tribulation in just the two verses at the end of 16. You're going to be scattered, you're going to have tribulation, but I've overcome the world." And now they hear this.

How encouraging this must be for them. Jesus is loving them to the end. His concern is for glorifying the Father by loving them with encouraging prayer that will happen. It has to happen because God is praying. God is praying.

So this first point in verse 9, Jesus, who is God, prays for those the Father gives him. We're talking about Christians. Let's look at verse 10. Verse 10. And all mine are yours, and all yours mine, and I am glorified in them." Titled this point, God is glorified in his own.

God is glorified in his own. Jesus is God. God is glorified in his own. We start this verse off with a very clear declaration that Jesus is God. That's a theme throughout, but This is a very clear declaration that Jesus got.

All mine are yours and yours are mine. Get some help with this from a couple of people. Matthew Henry says, every creature must say to God, all mine are thine, but none can say to God, all thine are mine." You get that? We all must say, everything I have is yours, God, but I cannot say Everything of yours is mine. But God can say that because Jesus is God.

Martin Luther put it this way. There is no creature that can say this in reference to God. For anyone more than God to make A claim like this would be absolutely preposterous. That's Luther for you. For anyone to make a claim like this other than God, it would be absolutely insane.

For Jesus is God. John 16, 15, all things that the Father has are mine. Jesus is God. John 17, 2, we've got this to memorize and it was read today. God has given Jesus authority over all flesh.

So if you're thinking, OK, all things don't include people, all things include all things that God has made and created everything. Without God, there is nothing. So it's everything. But in case you're wondering does all things include people yes it does given them authority over all flesh and John 10 I am my father are one we are the fathers we are the sons they along with the Holy Spirit are God and there is no other. Christianity stands alone on this.

Completely. Stands completely alone on this. If Jesus is not God, then there is no salvation. Think about that for a little bit. If Jesus is not God, there is no salvation.

Now think about it. Why? Well, one point is because Jesus says He's God. And if He's not, then He's a liar and He's not a perfect atoning sacrifice. We have a lot of scripture that helps us assert that Jesus is God.

This is stood out in John and it is critical for you to know how to defend this truth. It is very critical for us to know. The Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus never claimed to be God. And that the Bible doesn't teach it either. They are liars and they are wrong.

Because what they have done is they have invented a new God by staring into a hat, literally staring into a hat, or making up words that are not in any of the 5, 686 Greek manuscripts that we have of the New Testament. None of them. They make up their own God to match their evil teachings. To give you an idea of just the magnitude of what God is giving, He doesn't have to give us all that. But of the scholars out there that say, hey, these ancient writings are trustworthy.

These are true. Scholars will say, here is a bunch of ancient writings, as old as the Bible or older, that are true, but the Bible is not. The Bible we have about 5700 Greek, the Greek manuscripts. That doesn't include Latin and other languages, but just the Greek. We have that.

They have on their side 600 of the best of theirs. 5, 000 more to their 600. They're saying these are trustworthy but the Bible's not. Right? They're completely wrong.

And we must know how to defend the truth that Jesus is God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Please turn to Isaiah 6. Let's turn to Isaiah 6.

I'm going to look at verses 1 through 3. I'll give you the punchline ahead of time. We're going to be going next to John 12, where John says, this is Jesus. Old Testament, Isaiah 6, helps us learn how to defend our faith that Jesus is God. Because it is so crucial that we can.

Isaiah 6 verse 1 through 3. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood Seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face.

With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. And one cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And then he's seen.

That should give you an idea right there. He's seeing God on the throne. God the Father is Spirit. He has no body like us. So that should give you a hint that he's seeing something different about God than we see.

But John 14 verse 41, John has quoted some other verses in Isaiah. He says in 41, these things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him. So John is saying that what Isaiah saw was Jesus on the throne receiving worship, being glorified. Anyone that tells you that the Bible does not teach that Jesus is God is wrong. At best.

At worst, they're a deceiving liar. Jesus is God. Isaiah 42 God says, I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory I will not give to another. If that's not Jesus, it has to be Jesus because he's receiving glory in heaven.

In heaven. There is no way anyone else receives glory in heaven. There is no way anyone else but God is worshiped in heaven. In John 14, 8 and 9, Philip said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father and is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip?

He who has seen me has seen the Father. Does Jesus teach that he is God? Yes. Right there. You should remember Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1.

You want to remember the preeminence, the supremacy of Christ and who he is. Remember those two chapters, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1. Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1. Especially in Hebrews who says Jesus is the express image of God. Jesus is God.

In Matthew 28 we have the 11 disciples worshiping Jesus. Only God is to be worshipped. In Revelation 5 in heaven we have the 24 elders falling down and worshipping Him. That's Jesus who lives forever and ever. Therefore Jesus is God.

I am the Lord, that is my name and my glory I will not give to another. Jesus is God. This phrase that he says here is just so packed full of full of help and truth. All and all mine are yours and yours are mine and I am glorified in them. Jesus works proclaim he is God.

It's perfect life, healing, creating food, authority over nature, rising ladders from the dead, and especially him being risen from the dead. And as God says Jesus can be and is glorified in his people. I am glorified in them. How is Jesus glorified in them? How can he be glorified?

I think this came up earlier in either song we sang or something he said, how is it possible that us, remember who we were, and we can glorify God, these disciples can glorify God, this is how, it's by the transforming power of the gospel. It's the only way any of us can glorify God. It starts there. It doesn't start with me. It doesn't start with you.

It starts with the transforming power of the gospel. Here's what D.A. Carson writes, The extent to which Jesus has been glorified in the lives of his disciples is still pathetically slim compared to what they will be, but it is infinitely better than what he has received from the world. What he's getting at is, God has taken unworthy, filthy, wretched dead bones, given them to Christ, And through his work he cleanses with his blood, makes righteous, and reconciles to God. That alone, that alone, and giving us the faith to believe and confess that Jesus, you are the Christ, his disciples did, that alone glorifies Christ because it glorifies his work that they are being transformed in the world will have none of that.

Yes it may be pathetically slim but it is glorious because look where we started. We were dead and God gave us to Christ And Christ redeems us through His blood, through His sacrifice, through His death, through His resurrection. That glorifies God. That glorifies Christ. Remember, from 1 Corinthians 6, for such were some of you.

How does it glorify Christ? Look at 1 Corinthians 6 and you see this list. Jesus is glorified in the adulterer becoming faithful. Jesus is glorified in the adulterer becoming faithful. Jesus is glorified in the adulterer now worshiping only God.

Jesus is glorified in the thief now becoming a giver. Jesus is glorified in the covetous one now rejoicing with others. Jesus is glorified in the drunkard becoming sober or the extortioner now multiplying for the spread of the gospel, for missions for the church. Benevolence. This transformation happens because the Father gives us to Jesus to make us clean.

And Jesus is glorified in that. And the work he does, the transformation he causes from the Gospel, He takes our wretched lives, our evil desires, gives us new wills, eyes to see, ears to hear, gives us faith to believe, and we repent. That glorifies God. We did nothing in that, but be created and we didn't make ourselves. And that glorifies God.

That should tremendously humble us. That glorifies him immensely. Doesn't mean that we don't stop there. Doesn't mean we don't stop there at all. Now, with these disciples, we don't know the sin history of the disciples, do we?

We don't know it. We know it of Paul. We know his sin history. Some of it, key part of it. Matthew, you can kind of insinuate that he's a task collector.

They had a bad reputation for a reason. But we don't know exactly how he operated his vocation. But we tend to think of the desire, many of them were fishermen too. Fishermen don't have a reputation for being the most kind and just hugging type of guys. That's fine, but we tend to think of them as generally good men that wanted to learn, but whatever their life was, whether it was horrific sin or whether it was respectable sin, Jesus was glorified in their salvation.

They received in verse 8 of 17, they received the words of Jesus as God's word and believed. I've said it before, especially when I'm fencing the table about being a Christian. When it says in verse 18, they receive the words of Jesus as God's word and believed. When you become a Christian, I've said before, you don't have to know this inside and out. You don't have to know, you have to know just very little of this.

I'm a wretched sinner. He's a holy God. I'm separated. I'm headed to hell. Jesus died the death that I deserved.

Took on my sin. I repent of my sins. His ways are good and right. Jesus forgive me. Thank you for saving me.

I'm not putting that out there as a model prayer saying that's all you have to know. Lord help us if I had to know how to preach through Revelation or Daniel or Deuteronomy again or Exodus, Numbers. I don't. You don't have to believe in the doctrines of grace to be saved, for God to be glorified. You don't.

You don't. You just believe this is the Word of God. You believe this is the Word of God, and where you're different, where you don't agree with it, God help me agree with it because you're right I must be wrong. So help me. And that glorifies God.

That glorifies God just in humility of saying God I don't understand or I don't know or I don't even tend to agree with that. But with humility, I know you're right, and I must be wrong. God help me. Please help me. And God is glorified in that humility as well.

Jesus is glorifying your salvation, The effects of the transforming power of the gospel. Listen, here's what the words from the Reformation study Bible says, it is surprising that God's glory could be associated with actions of human beings, who are so insignificant compared to the divine majesty. Humans may give glory to God, and Paul affirms it of the most common activity of human beings such as eating and drinking. So we have just the simple faith that gives glory to God, but also the common activities, eating, drinking. How can you give glory to God changing a diaper?

All right, Driving to work, grocery shopping, caring for a home, in our work, cooking, whatever it is. It is amazing that humans can possibly glorify God. We think about who we are, but we can because God has given us to Christ to redeem, to save. He has done that. He saves you.

He transforms you. He has conformed you into His image. And he will complete that work and one day will be in heaven glorifying him perfectly. But that whole progression from the smallest of faith till the work is completed when we die or Christ returns glorifies God. No matter what you're doing, no matter what you're doing, it can glorify God.

Think of it. There is no such thing as a mundane thing or something so small that it cannot be done in a way that glorifies God. Think of it that way. Christian, you are a special gift of love by the Father to Jesus. No matter what your past was, No matter how much you think your past is worse than somebody else's, it may be on a human scale, but it is not on God's scale.

It is right that murders are put to death and a child that steals a penny, it's a different sentence. But in God's eyes, in God's eyes, it is so glorifying that you would take either of those people, wretched people, give them to God, Give them to Christ to redeem, to save. That glorifies Him. You're being transformed by the power of the Gospel. What you were by grace, you are not now.

What you were By God's grace, you are not now. And what you are now, you will not be later. Second Peter in 1 John talks to us about that. So verse 10, Jesus is God and is glorified in His own. Let's read verse 11.

Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are." This point is titled, God's own are kept through His holy name. God's own are kept through His holy name. It starts off here, now I am no longer in the world. We saw this kind of language back in verse 4. I have finished the work which you have given me to do.

Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension is so sure Jesus is praying as if it's already happened. Remember, what Jesus, what God determines to happen, will happen. There is not A chance in the world that Jesus coming and dying would not happen. That Jesus raising from the dead would not happen. That Jesus living a perfect life would not happen.

So Jesus is praying as if it happened. This is not a presumptuous prayer. This is a prayer of God who knows what will happen and is praying as if it has happened to encourage these disciples that have fears, anxieties, sorrow is building in them. They've been told they're going to scatter. Peter's been told he's going to deny Christ.

They're going to have trials. People are going to hate them. And Jesus is teaching them through this prayer, this has happened. This is sure. They don't have the full picture of what Jesus is saying, but we do, so we can teach it that way.

I guarantee you when I look back, it was way more encouraging than when they first heard it, but when they first heard it, it was encouraging as well. Which brings us to the first of several specific prayers that Jesus has over the rest of this chapter. The first one is, Holy Father, keep through your name. Holy Father, keep through his name. So up to this point, Christ has just been talking to God, talking about things that are true and right, good doctrine that we need to know about, proclaiming He is God.

And here's His first prayer. You can call it a request, but it's not a request like we would have because Jesus said it and he is God this will happen you will be kept through the holy name of God will be kept Holy Father this is the only place in all of scripture this title is used of God. Holy Father, you have other places where he's described as holy, where he's called holy. This is the only place where it is as a title. Holy Father.

I believe that Jesus is just appealing to God's attribute of attributes. We saw that in pink, we read that in pink in Holiness last chapter, a couple chapters ago when we read. The attribute of the Japhdus, we called it when we read, that holiness is the master attribute that describes all God's other attributes. God's holy mercy, God's holy grace, God's holy sovereignty, God's holy love, God's holy wrath. Holiness describes all of his attributes.

Holiness is what separates him from us. Now by Christ's work, he makes us holy. He redeems us, perfects us. None of our works are perfectly holy. God's works, all of His attributes are perfectly holy.

And He's saying, keep them through your name or protect them by the power of your name. Last week in verse 6, Jesus said, I have manifested your name. And what he was saying was he's manifested, he's demonstrated, he's shown all of God's essence, who God really is, all of his attributes he has demonstrated, has manifested, he has taught, he has shown. Now he's saying keep through your name. Matthew Henry, I love, I'm going to read from Matthew Henry of what he says here.

This is very, I'll say it, this is very Piper-esque, but actually Piper-esque is more Henry-esque in this list that he does. If you've ever listened to Piper, he loves going down through this list, list, list, and just calling out things. Matthew Henry says, keep them in your name. Keep in your name. Just keep them in the knowledge and fear of your name.

Keep them in the profession and service of your name. Keep them in the interest of your name. Keep them in your truths. Keep them in your ordinances. Keep them in the way of your commandments.

Keep them by your own power. Keep them in your own hand. Keep them yourself. Undertake for them. Let them be your own immediate care.

Keep them by your word. Let your name be their strong tower. Matthew Henry gets that last phrase from Proverbs 18.10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe.

As your body fails, as You have tough relationships in family, out of family. You have trials. You deal with still indwelling sin. As there are temptations, as the world presses on you, run to your strong tower. Be safe.

Be kept by the Holy Father through His name. Run to Him, be safe in that strong tower. Holy Father, keep us in full loyalty, full obedience, full faithfulness to your Holy Name. And he says here, come to you Holy Father, keep through your name. We are sheep that need to be kept.

Sheep cannot keep themselves. Sheep need to be kept. We saw this when we talked about Jesus as the door and Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We cannot keep ourselves, and our Good Shepherd is keeping us by appealing to God for protection. Appealing to God to be our strong tower.

By appealing to God to keep us safe through His Holy Name. Through His name. And as treasured gifts of God to Jesus, Jesus will shepherd us to that strong tower that we would be safe, that we would be kept. He will shepherd us to keep us beside still waters. He'll shepherd us to keep us in green pastures.

He'll lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, not to fear no evil. His rod and his staff will keep us through correcting us, directing us. He will keep us on paths of righteousness for His name's sake? One preacher I heard recently preaching on Psalm 23 when he was talking about leading us on paths of righteousness. Why does he lead us on paths of righteousness?

Because I would not lead myself on a path of righteousness. If you've read Pilgrim's Progress, that comes out clear. It's a good teaching. I need God to lead me on paths of righteousness. Because I would not of myself.

Before, when God gave me to Christ, that's one of the transformed powers of God. He gave this gift to Christ. It didn't seem like much of a gift, but it was loving to give us. And Jesus transformed us and puts us on these paths of righteousness and leads us and protects us and keeps us. And he's shepherding us to God to be safe, to be kept by God.

No safer place to be than to be kept by God. Psalm, I want to say this as well about keeping ourselves. Let me say this. It's not to diminish the role of spiritual disciplines. The means of grace.

I am not diminishing the effect of spiritual disciplines. The spiritual discipline of commitment to church, to prayer, to reading, meditating, studying, memorizing scripture. They are great means that God uses to protect us and to lead us and guide us. I'm not minimizing that. But it is God who transformed us that we would even desire to do those things.

And those things, although somebody from the world can try to do those things, and people in the world have tried to do those things and eventually they're crushed under the weight of it because they don't understand grace, they don't understand forgiveness, they don't understand mercy, they don't understand the power of the cross and that Jesus has completed the work for us. We do and we understand that I'm thankful for this and I have a desire for this but I'd have no desire for this if you did not take the gift of the Father, give us faith, transform us, give us faith to believe, transform us, and then fill us with the Holy Spirit. How much more does God have to do to keep us? He's given us so much. Psalm 121, 3 through 5.

He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your helper." Hey, you're pastors, we slumber, we sleep. We will fail you. Your parents, children, they sleep, right?

You sleep. God never sleeps or slumbers. He is ever living to make intercession for you. That is Jesus' desire. Ever through your sleep, through your roughest times, your greatest times.

He is your keeper. The Lord is your keeper. That's the one you want keeping you. I'm thankful for parents, right? Once again, God has given you parents as a means of keeping you, of helping you.

Wonderful. I can look at every child in this room. I know I can. Some guests we have here. I know them.

I can look at every child here and note the Lord is keeping you through your parents. He is. There is a grace of God towards you. Turn to 2 Timothy 1, please. Please.

2 Timothy 1, I want to read verses 8 through 12. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. But share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him till that day." Paul is telling Timothy, I am persuaded.

I believe in Jesus. I believe He's the Christ. He is God. I have been given to Christ. He is keeping me because I believe and I know all this about Jesus.

I am persuaded that His truths are right. What He says are true and amen. And He will keep me. He will keep me. I am persuaded by the belief He has given me that he will keep me until that day that he completes me and then we're in heaven with him for glory.

And he's keeping us in a different way, a completely different way where we will see him face to face. We will eat and drink with them. Paul was persuaded by the gospel, by the truth of the word, that he will keep them. He will not be let go. We are sheep that require so much keeping.

The world hates us. Many want to kill us. The evil one wants us. You think of what Jesus said to Peter. The evil one wants you, but can't have you.

There's not a chance he can have you. The world is hostile. There are temptations everywhere. And Jesus prayed for us. Especially we'll see when we get to verse 20.

But it is interceding for us right now. I know you know these verses, but Just look at John 10 again. Look at John 10 again. Keep your eyes on here. John 10, 27 through 30.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. You are kept. You are kept. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.

I and my Father are one. They are keeping us. It says here, you've been given to Christ. We are God's, we are Christ's. All that the Father has is all that the Son has.

They have the same. They own it all. They have all. They are one. They have one perfect will.

What Jesus prays for does happen because he is God praying a perfect will. We are kept. And no one can take you from his hand. As was said then and said at other times, anybody that says that can happen, what about this person that was baptized that believably? There never were.

There never were. We can fool people. We've all lied. We've all fooled people before about different things. You can fool them about being a Christian.

If you grow up in the church especially, you know a ton of Christian language. You know the right words to say. You can fool us in a baptismal interview. As smart as we may think we are, we can be fooled in a baptismal interview. And we have.

And we have been fooled in a baptismal interview. Maybe intentionally, Maybe the person was just deceived. Both of those can happen. But if you're His, don't let what you see happen to somebody else. Say, wow, that could happen to me.

I can believe and not believe. No. Jesus prayed for you to be kept through the Father's holy name. Therefore, you will be kept. If you have repented and believed in Christ alone for salvation, you are being kept.

In the last part of verse 11, we see here, Come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are. We are to be kept in unity as the Godhead is unified." I just spent some time contemplating on this. It's just hard to comprehend. We are individuals. We are not the Godhead.

We do not have one united will between us. We don't have the same attributes, the same personalities, the same likes, the same dislikes. How can we be unified? Like the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are unified. It's hard to think of because of our limitations as human beings.

But we know that Trinity has one agreed will, one agreed purpose, one mission, a mutual, inexhaustible love. We know this is not about having one denomination. This is about unity for the glory of God in the expansion of the gospel. Unity is a gospel issue. I want to look at verses 21 through 23, And since we'll be looking at in a few weeks and digging in that more, that's about all I'm going to say on this at this point.

And since I'm the one that gets to preach that section, I've got a few weeks just to really think about it and you think about it. And let's help one another think about what does it mean to be unified as the Godhead is unified? That's what Jesus prays for us. And it will happen. It will happen.

But it's not just that it will happen in glory, but he's praying for it now for us. I just want to read this and definitely we'll be digging into that for the full message in a few weeks. So he's praying that they all, sorry, in verse 21, that they all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me." Now, it's not to say I haven't thought about this. I have thought about this a little bit, and I do have a bunch of notes that I'm putting down to prepare for that message. One thing you can take away from this.

In order for us to be unified as the Godhead is unified, it is way more than just preaching about it and talking about it. We know that. For me to be unified with my wife, it's more than me to say, I love my wife and I love her and I love her take some vows no there's action involved that demonstrates a unity so think on that think on that I look forward to preaching that in in a few weeks So God's own need kept and are kept through His holy name. I have two applications. The first one, why do you pray for people?

Question, Why do you pray for people? The question, why do you pray for people? Should be for the same reason Jesus prayed for his people. Jesus prays for this gift of people out of a love for and the glory of God. Your brethren have been given to Christ and He has saved them, transformed them, saved them, redeemed them, covered them with His blood, purified them, made them a bride for himself.

Your sister, your brother in Christ is no less a gift than you are. Humble yourself. Pray for them. Jesus prayed for them. Jesus prayed for you.

How much more should you pray for them? Now unlike Jesus, we don't know who's going to be saved. So we can't have a specific prayer like we see in 20. So we pray for the lost. We pray that the gospel will go out.

We send missionaries to Turkey. We pray that the gospel will go out. We send missionaries to Turkey. We pray that the gospel will go out. And we're thankful for how it has gone out and turned the world upside down by these men, by other martyrs, by other missionaries.

We're thankful that the gospel has gone out to parents, to other people, whoever it was that God used to bring you to Himself. We're thankful for that. So we do pray for the lost. But we should also have special prayers for the brethren, our sisters, our brothers in Christ. Often we hear, or I say, I'm praying for you.

I'm praying for you. Let's make sure we are taking that as encouragement. Let's not, let's think the best of one another and not that someone is just saying it because they know they should say it. Take it as encouragement that someone is praying for you as an encouragement for you and for others. It'd be very willing to be prayed for by others.

Humble yourself, humble myself, and be very willing to be prayed for by others. Be very willing to call the elders to pray for you, too. I can look around this room, and I know of several people who we've come to pray for, and it's not just about sickness and illness. That's something that scripture really digs in on, but it's not just about that. There are other reasons.

I've probably prayed with every family here individually in some way, maybe not everybody in the family but somebody in the family at least and I'm sure Michael and Jason could say the same thing. So that's wonderful. Keep asking. Keep asking for prayer. Once again, I don't want to diminish the physical help for your needs.

When you're being prayed for, you're praying because you have a need. You have a family issue. You have a financial issue. You may be dealing with fear, anxiety, stress, depression, just doubting the pressures of the world on you, work issues, all kinds of things. I don't want to diminish the needs of these physical help, but what better than to know your name is before the throne of God who keeps you?

Really, what better thing there is? Because Everything is under the feet and the authority of Jesus to put into play to help you, to keep you. He has everything. I don't have everything. Nobody here has everything underneath their authority.

The things that are under my authority in my household aren't even mine even, but I need to be a good steward of them. And the things that have held my family, some of the best things have held my family,