Perfect In One

An expository sermon from John 17 preached by Marshall Patterson.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Marshall and Stephanie and their family were unknown to us. And as God always does, He sends people into our lives. And Stephanie was working part-time at Food City and uh and and uh Patty Miller was working with her, yeah. And uh had invited her to church. I think also around that time they had received a mail out from our church inviting them to come, and Stephanie started coming to church right away, and Marshall needed to check us out online a little bit, if I recall, see what what we were all about before he uh came. But uh, you know, he started coming, and the Lord has done a work in their life like he has done in all of our lives. And it's a transformative work and it's a blessed work. And over the past year or so, Marshall and I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together in one-on-one discipleship where we just get together and go through the word and talk about walking with Jesus. And I have seen Marshall just grow closer to the Lord week after week after week, and God's given him a burden and a passion for this word, and so we want to give him the opportunity to preach tonight. And so, Marshall, if you would come on at this time, and uh we are here for you, we are in support of you. Uh, you are in a room full of friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ, and we're rooting for you to lift Jesus high.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Just so y'all know, I'm an emotional wreck right now, so bear with me, okay? Um, if you don't mind turning your Bibles to John chapter 17. So at the beginning of this year, even though Pastor Justin prints out his you know daily Bible reading schedule, and this year I believe it was you know the New Testament over and over. And uh so I started off with that, but you know, as I've read the Bible more and more, I really got pulled into um just the gospel, and I said, man, there's so much here. This is the direct word of Christ and his life, and I just want to know more. So I got deeper and deeper, and when I ran across chapter 17, for I don't know how many times I read it, but for some reason this time, it stood out to me, and it was the most powerful thing I'd ever read. And since then, since I've decided, and I had to pay Pastor Justin for me to come here and say it, um I've read it so many times, and every time I see more and more. And this is such a beautiful thing, and it it all relates to every single person in this room and outside of this room. So, if you don't mind, bear with me while I read chapter 17, King James Version. All right. So these words spake Jesus and lifted his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has 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 eternal life, 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, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and thy world the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is thy truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that all they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou loved lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee. And these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, and the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Alright, I'm gonna pray real quick. Dear Heavenly Father, I just pray over this word and pray over myself that you speak through me. Not that I speak of myself, but I speak of you, and I speak of the love that you have for all of us and all that you've done for us all. Lord, I just ask that you be with me and let me give the best representation of what you want for us in these words. Jesus' name, amen. So, I'm gonna do my best to break this down in a proper time period. Since I've never done this before, it could be seven minutes or three hours, so be ready to go, but be ready to stay, you know. Keep your car running, but make sure the tank's full. Um, so I'm really excited about all this. I tried my best to break it down into some main points, but there's so much good stuff in here. I kept adding and taking away and adding, and so just bear with me because there's a lot of good stuff in here, okay? So I'm not I don't know if your Bible is the same way as mine, but when you look at chapter 17, all that red writing, this is all the words that came out of Jesus' mouth, right? He prayed this prayer less than 24 hours before the uh the Roman soldier had pierced his side. So he 20 less than 24 hours before Christ died, this is a prayer he prayed. I just want to stop real quick and say that can you imagine if you knew, because Christ did know that he was gonna die, can't I can only imagine thinking about anybody but myself, I would have wanted to run for the hills and hide somewhere. But instead, the the selflessness of Christ, he prayed this prayer. And watch what happens because it all comes true. So anyway, here we go. Alright. So by this time, when he's praying this prayer, Judas is already either on the way back or he's on the way to get the to get the officers and the men, the band of men, to come arrest Jesus. So he knows all this is happening, and that's when he prays this prayer. And he starts off with the hour has come, Father, the hour has come. So he says, Glorify thy son, that thy son also may 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. So right there, that the hour has come. He knows what's about to happen, and the first thought he has is given eternal life to the people that God has given him. So, I mean, like I said, this whole chapter is like that the selflessness never ends from the beginning to the end. So, um, so about this time, verse four, he says, I have finished the work which thou hast given me to do. So at this point, Christ has had a ministry from between three to three and a half years with all of his disciples. He's showing them everything that they need to see at this point, and the only thing left is to be glorified, which means the death, burial, and resurrection. So that's what he's asking for to be glorified. And uh, so if you look, and I don't know if you noticed by the way I was reading it, but so when I first started reading the Bible when I got saved, it was the same Bible. It was given to me by uh Ben Tidwell, a buddy of mine, he's also a preacher, and he gave me this Bible. It used to look a lot clearer than it is now, but uh pretty crinkled up. But, you know, I tried to read this, and a lot of the Bible wasn't making sense to me, the way it was worded, and you know, mine is thine, and thine is mine, and a lot of stuff I was just like, well, I'll just breeze through this and maybe I'll get to something better. Because I was saying to myself, I don't even speak Spanish, you know. And uh, but you know, it's crazy, and I'll tell you this, that this is something you all should know, uh, is that early on I knew that there was something I needed to do. And when I decided to accept Jesus Christ into my life, I prayed, like, please let me understand what your will is for me. Please help me understand what you're saying here. And over time and reading it, it's just that that light shines right on these words. And no matter no matter what the wording is, no matter what the version, I mean, it stands out. This is God's word, and there's nothing greater than this. So once again, I'm highly excited about God's word, and just bear with me. Um so like I said, through through verses 1 through 12, you'll see a lot of the mine is thine, thine is mine as you read this on almost every single verse, and that's Christ demonstrating his oneness with the Father. So, you know, just like uh was it John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto me, but by no man cometh unto the Father but by me. So you can't have one without the other. They are one. Yes, the Father, it's the Son, but they are one. And so as you go on, there's there's more coming. So verses seven and eight, I wanted to point out, he says, Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. They have believed that thou hast sent me. And I wanted to point out something crazy is that eight or nine verses before this is when the disciples said, Now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and by this we believe that thou came forth from God. In the next verse you said, Do you now believe? So I mean he's been with them for three to three and a half years and seen all these amazing, miraculous things. And just now they're saying, We believe. Now we believe what you said. You worded it just right that time. Now we believe. And it's like it's perfect timing, you know, because sadly for us to be here right now, somebody had to believe for it to make it to us. And it's just kind of sad to show how long it took them. But it also shows me myself in the mirror because though I know Jesus now, every single day I have to fight with the faith. They they were there with Christ and saw what he did. You know, I I just go off with the word and what the Spirit's done in my life. I go to church and I learn. And it is very exciting to go through these things in life and know that every hard time is still okay because we have Christ. But it's so good to see that all these people that we kind of look up to in ways, all these disciples, I mean, these are people that continue to write books of the Bible. They helped push this gospel on and how low a faith that they were, that it took them that long to understand. So I wanted to point out also that in uh 6 through 18, let's see. Alright, so verse 9. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and they are mine. So I want to say that, but I just want y'all to hold that thought. I'm gonna come back to that, okay? That's pretty important. And I've noticed uh that as I have read this chapter over and over, everything comes full circle in multiple ways. And uh just hang out with me here for a second. All right, so verse 11, now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. Holy Father, keep through your name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. So this oneness that we we read about in the earlier verses of the chapter were with the Father and the Son, and here now it is, he's talking about his disciples and the oneness he wants with them. And so as you see that selflessness grows, you know, he's about to die on the cross, and here he is, he's putting all his efforts in prayer towards his disciples. So, verse 13, and now I come to thee, and these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. So, this is really important to me, and I'd say if you're saved, it's really important to you. And this is something that makes me so this is what excites me about Jesus right here, is this joy he's speaking of. So, in John 14, verses 16, 17, and 18, he speaks on praying for this comforter. He shall give you a comforter that he may abide with you forever. And uh in chapter 16, he says in verse 7, it is expedient for for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you. So, the comforter, as people who are saved know, is the Holy Spirit. And that is where this joy is that we that can be fulfilled in us through him. So I just want to point out that 53 days after this prayer was prayed was the day of Pentecost. And so you can see this joy. That was the day that the Holy Ghost came down, 3,000 people were added to the church, preached by none other than Peter, one of the main guys that we read about doubting him. So you see, when this joy from Christ comes, the same people who denied him in fear were all of a sudden preaching his name and bringing people to Christ, you know, the fear was gone. They were comforted by this joy, this Holy Spirit. And so that's as I'm saying it. You can see this prayer that is before he's even put on the cross, you can see how it's already happened. You know, we can look back at this prayer and see how every single thing came to be. So, so now you see, with the joy through the Holy Spirit in Stephen, that's uh Acts chapter 7, verses 55 and 56, he looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. He said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. And so he knew that he was about to be stoned to death. He sat, he stood there in front of those Pharisees, and he gave the greatest argument for Christ that I've ever read in the Bible. And I mean it's all the way from Genesis to Christ, and I mean there's no denying it. And guess what? They still wanted to kill him anyway, just like they did Christ. And he wasn't fear in fear at all because he had that same joy through the Holy Spirit. That's all he saw was the Father and the Son. And uh that's a beautiful thing to see. And uh so also I want to read out um Romans 5.11, uh Paul writes, But we also joy in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 7.22 says, For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. 2 Corinthians 7.4 says, Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you, and I am filled with the comfort, and I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. First Thessalonians 1 6 says, And ye become followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. So I just wanted to say, as I as I read this and I pray on it and I think about it, you know, we always read John 3.16, for God so loved the world, the world he gave his only begotten son, whoever believes on him shall not perish, but have uh eternal life, everlasting life. But the thing is, he didn't just end it with that. We get more than just eternal life. He immediately comes to us. We have Christ with us from the second that we're saved. The longest anybody waited was up until the day of Pentecost. But we didn't have to wait. We immediately got the Holy Spirit, and he's with us all the time. You know, and that's so amazing to me that so he didn't just give his only begotten son to die on that cross for us, and that was it, and we could have eternal life. We don't just have to struggle every single day, just in our flesh, worried. Oh, what am I gonna do? I gotta pay these bills, I got all this debt. No, that means nothing because we have we have the comforter. The comforter came immediately to us. The day I accepted Jesus Christ in my life, my life changed. And every prayer, like I said, about these words, none of it made any sense to me. Like I said, obviously now I can speak Spanish and read it, right? So I all this stuff came to me, and I just love the Lord for giving me this opportunity that he has given us all. So, anyway, let me continue. Alright, so verse 17. He says, Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is thy truth. And that reminded me of a really good verse. All right, let's go back to John 1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. And the word was God. So you take that, then you take John 1.14, and the Word was made flesh, full of grace. He dwelt among us, right? So here it is, this word. Sanctify them through thy word. Sanctify or to set apart. So we're set apart by the word. The word is God, the word is Christ, and that that is how we are set apart. And so, verse 19, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified through the truth. So Christ sets himself apart so that we could be set apart through him, through his gospel, through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that we set ourselves apart. And so as I go on, it's more and more of a full circle. Just bear with me, okay? So verses 20 through 26, you see that uh Christ pray for the ones who know him through the word by the disciples. Um that's what let me, if you don't mind, I'm gonna read a few of these verses right here. So verse 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, and that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou has given me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. So there's a bus stop in there. Remember when I told y'all to get off the bus earlier? Let me see, I think it was verse nine, maybe. Yeah, I pray for them, I pray not for the world. So here it is. I'm gonna jump back from verse nine to verse twenty-one. So he says right here in verse twenty-one, that they may all be one, as thou father art in me, that I and thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. So here it is. Christ has prayed for his disciples. Now he's praying for the people who will believe on him through his disciples' words. And here's where the world comes into play. He still didn't pray for the world, but here it is. That prayer for the disciples was passed on to somebody else, it was passed on to somebody else, it's passed on to somebody else. Here we are, we're those believers. Those believers that have so we believe on Christ through the people who passed on in the first place, right? So it is our duty as believers in Christ to help somebody else believe in Christ, to tell somebody about Christ. That's why I'm up here right now. If it wasn't for that comforter, that joy, yeah, I wouldn't be up here right now at all. But because I feel like it's my job to tell somebody about Christ, that's what I'm doing. And nothing could please me more than talking about Jesus. The same thing I used to laugh and joke about and brush it off my shoulder when I was a kid. Here I am. And uh so, so through the world, we all may know Christ, and here we are, once again full circle. That it's all coming to be. So it was the same person like Peter who denied it through that prayer, through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Now He knows, now He brings people to Christ, and that carries. And uh so I wanted to say also when it comes to that, that brings me to Matthew twenty-eight, nineteen and twenty. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even until the ends of the world. Amen. So I feel like that verse wasn't just for whoever you know was reading it that day. If this is the word and Christ is the word and the truth, then he's telling me something. I learned early on coming to a church like this that I mean, God's will isn't always just you pray, and God's gonna come to me in my sleep and tell me something. Sometimes his will is right here in this book. This is the word of God. This is what I try now to base my life off of. So when I see that, yeah, my first thought isn't, well, let me go to all nations. I'm gonna start right here in Atkins first, okay? But I feel like it is my duty because I accepted Christ. He gave me his Holy Spirit, he's given me eternal life. I'm just gonna talk about Jesus a little bit, you know? I mean, that's a pretty good deal, in my opinion. So here I am. So, in verses 22 and 23, uh it says, And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one, even as we are. So here we are. We are one with the Father and the Son, right? And so then He wants the disciples, the Father and the Son to be one, right? Now here we are, he wants us all to be one. Here's that selflessness, selflessness is getting bigger and bigger, right? So the love continues to grow right here. And uh so I and them, thou and me, that they may be perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them, and as thou hast loved me. So if you really think about it, this whole prayer right here, this is right before he goes out there. Judas and those guys are waiting on them. They're ready to arrest him, take him off, you know, put those spikes through his hands, rip the flesh off of his body. They're ready to put that crown of thorns on his head and beat it onto his head. I mean, I could go on and on and on. But they tortured this person, they brutally murdered Jesus Christ, right? Sadly it had to be that way for these prophecies to be fulfilled, but God did that. He let this happen for us, for us to understand and to think about it, that it's so hard to really look at it and see, because the way I grew up, I just saw these pictures of Jesus. He looked like such a sensitive man on the wall. And, you know, they they almost under-glorify what Christ had to go through for us to be here today, to for us to have any chance at anything except for rotten in our own sin. And so the fact that Christ went through all this and then gave us the Holy Spirit to so that we could all be one. It just I could think I could read this chapter over and over, and my joy never go away. So I want to keep reading. All right. So verse 24, Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name, and I will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. I don't know if y'all can just sense that love right there. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. I mean that that is the truest form of love that you could ever imagine. I I wish I could put that form of love towards my wife and my kids and everybody else, but sadly we fall so so short of the glory of God every single day. But, you know, it's it's in us through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter that He speaks of, to be as close to Him as we can, because He wants us to be perfect in one with Him. You know, so I I suggest that if anybody in this room, because I know a lot of y'all go here all the time, y'all have been saved way longer than me. But, you know, I've talked to people outside of church and that I've had people get confused about the Holy Spirit and just kind of doubt the Holy Spirit. Like I don't see anything different. Um, I just don't know what I am supposed to do. And I I just pray myself for me and everybody else that, you know, we try and think in yourself when you get home, when you're on the way home, whatever you want to do, just truly look into yourself and ask yourself Am I truly giving my all to Christ? Is there more I can do? Am I 50% me, 50% Christ? What am I doing? And it's it's something that we'll all fight until we leave this world because we'll all have bills, we'll all have debts, like I spoke on earlier. It is really hard to juggle all the excuses we have to not give our lives to Christ. And I can see from me when I read the Bible and when I don't, we talk about it in Sunday school, that uh, you know, it shows when you're in the Word of God and you're asking God, you're talking to God, what's your will for me? What can I do for you? To be ready to do whatever it is that the Spirit leads you to do. And um, I just think that I ask all of y'all to just look deep within yourselves and ask if there's more that you can do for Christ. Is there more, Christ, is there more of me that I can give to you? What can I do for you? Because, I mean, like I said, Christ left and he was he was buried after he was crucified, he was resurrected after three days. That's the gospel. But here it is, he still gave us our holy, his Holy Spirit to dwell in us. I mean, there's nothing through Christ that we cannot do because we are with Christ at all times. So I'm sorry if my message isn't as perfect as maybe y'all want it to be, because it's all in me, you know. And uh, like I said, I spent so much time preparing, but you know, the gospel of Christ is what brings us salvation, right? So we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that He was He was born of a virgin, He died on the Christ, He was He was placed in a tomb, resurrected after three days, right? If they really think on these things, you accept that in your life, right? You're saved. You are saved. Here you are, you have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with you from beginning to the end. We're never alone. And um, I don't think there's anything else I need for the rest of my life because the closer I am to Christ, the closer I understand that that's what I'm here for. So um we still have a little bit of time left, don't we? All right, see, yeah, like I told you, it was closer to seven minutes than three hours, right? I might get Chris Miller come up here and finish me up, you know. Yeah, so like I said, I didn't really practice this out loud. It's been a blast to go through the gospel and read on Jesus. And that's another thing I'd like to suggest. I know Pastor Justin, that's all he talks about, is the Bible and Jesus. So y'all aren't hearing anything that I don't already know, but coming from a sinner like me, you know, I remember my mom told me when I was a kid, she's like, Oh, I think when you grow up you're gonna be a preacher. You just have that way about you. You know, I remember then thinking, I just took five dollars out of your purse. What are you talking about? You know, but it's just so amazing in that I don't deserve anything that I have. I don't deserve any of it. I don't deserve my wife, my children, all these friends, all these people in this church to accept me the way y'all do. I know y'all used to tuck your purse when I first came in, and the tattoos and all. But now you know, you know, I'm just pretty much a normal guy. Um but it's like I really don't deserve what God has given me. I don't deserve any of it. I don't deserve my wife and kids. I don't deserve this church, I don't deserve eternal life whatsoever. I don't deserve any of it. So I'm just so blessed that all I had to do was the easiest thing I ever did, was accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And it's just so exciting for me to stand up here and talk to y'all about Jesus. And uh I like I said, I wish y'all had a little more Pastor Justin, and a little more hand movements and a better style and stuff, you know, better punch lines, whatever. But uh I'm just so happy to be here tonight and talk talk to y'all about Jesus. So um I just ask that y'all just continue to read your Bible and uh ask what God has in store for you because it's all laid out right in front of us, and uh it's a life worth living. So thank y'all for accepting me in this church. I did want to also follow up on Pastor Justin and thank Patty Miller for you know reaching out to my wife, because if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here, right? And I think about that all the time. And there's so many people I could thank, you know, like Stanley when I first came in, and I didn't know who to talk to. I was lost. I was like, what do I do? You know what he told me? Read the Bible. I was like, that's it. You know? So anyway, it worked, it worked. And uh, I'm just so thankful for all my Sunday school people and Chris Miller. There's so many people that are such a joy to talk to. Pastor Brian, I just love this whole church's congregation. I love the people who aren't of this church and congregation, and I just think that everybody should know Jesus as the greatest thing that ever happened to me. And uh that's just all I got. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Thank you, Marshall. You know, when we hear that, I know you're like me and it fills your heart with joy. Because we've heard Marshall's testimony, and his testimony, while the details are different, is the testimony of every believer. We are born into this world separated from God, and we cannot achieve that oneness with him in our own power. And it's no wonder that John 17 captured his attention because John 17 is the epitome of Christ bringing us back into fellowship with God, making us at one with the Father, and without Christ it never happens. And so Christ is the key. And Christ is the key to what has changed Marshall's life and everyone else who has accepted Christ as their Savior. And so I thoroughly enjoyed your exposition of John 17 and how it captured your attention, and you hung on every detail about Jesus praying for his disciples that night, his capstone prayer among them, as he has said, the work is finished. I have built the foundation, I have poured it into you, and you now have the equipping to go take it into all the world. And like Marshall said, it has been fulfilled because that was 7,000 miles away, 2,000 years ago. And somebody came and told us about Jesus, and he changed our life and brought us back into one fellowship with the Father. And so I think we all have a heart full of joy and thanksgiving for what you laid out for us from the scriptures tonight, Marshall. If you would stand with me and let's sing Seek first.