Calvary Road Baptist Church

“The Lord Jesus Christ Praying For His Remaining Apostles” Part 11

John 17.6-19 

I invite you to turn to John 17.17. Once you have found that verse, please stand for the reading of God’s Word: 

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” 

You might recall me previously mentioning that this is the second of the two prayer requests the Lord Jesus Christ presented to the Father on behalf of His remaining apostles in what is usually referred to as Christ’s high priestly intercessory prayer, concluding the greatest conversion recorded in God’s Word. His first request, in John 17.15–16, can be viewed as a negative request. The Savior asked the Father not to take His men out of the world. This verse is a positive request, urging the Father to sanctify His men, using truth as a means to accomplish His request, and acknowledging God’s Word is truth.

My comments on this request will fall under five categories. First, comments about the word “sanctify.” Next, comments about what is meant by the phrase “sanctify them.” Third, comments about the means of sanctifying “through thy truth.” Fourth, comments about what is referred to by the words “thy word.” Finally, comments about “thy word” being “truth.”

It would be impossible for me to cover these five categories in one sermon. Sometimes it is more spiritually beneficial to consider profound spiritual matters to be drawn out over a more extended period.

With that in mind, in the hopes that you will spend some quality time meditating and reflecting on the truths, we will begin handling in this message. Let us proceed. 

LET ME BEGIN WITH REMARKS ABOUT THIS WORD “SANCTIFY” 

Ἁgiάson, sanctify, is an imperative form of the Greek verb ἁgiάzw, to consecrate or set apart persons or things to God.[1] In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is urging His heavenly Father to do this thing to His men. But what thing is He urging His Father to do?

Interestingly, this Greek verb belonged almost exclusively to biblical Greek or Greek influenced by the Bible and was not elsewhere used by Greeks up to that time.[2] Is this because Greek culture had no concept of personal holiness in the sight of God but instead looked upon holiness as the result of performing some perfunctory religious tasks to appease their many gods? We find the Lord Jesus Christ using a form of the word in Matthew 6.9 when teaching His men to pray, the word there being translated “hallowed”: 

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” 

Thus, it may be that this is a term coined by the Spirit of God for use by Christians and in Scripture in the New Testament.

Recognizing that there were times God directed His people to engage in ceremonial cleansing for service related to ministry in and around the Tabernacle and the Temple, there is no question that spiritual sanctification is an accomplishment reserved for God alone, that only God can do. The word occurs in John 10.36, in this verse, and verse 19, with the adjective ‘holy’ seen in the term ‘Holy Spirit’ in John 1.33, John 14.26, and John 20.22 otherwise in John 6.69 and 17.11.[3] At its most basic level of meaning, ‘holy’ is almost an adjective for God. He is transcendent, ‘other,’ distinct, and separate from His creation. It is no wonder, in his vision in Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet observed the seraphim cry in Christ’s presence, ‘Holy! Holy! Holy!’[4]

Those people and things reserved for God are also called holy, both furniture in the Temple or a man set apart to be the high priest. The prophet Jeremiah and Aaron and his sons were all ‘sanctified,’ set apart for God.[5] Angels and servants of God in the human realm are holy by derivation, by being set aside for God’s exclusive use and pleasure. But the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are holy in the absolute sense of being morally pristine. It is an attribute of God’s deity.

The Lord Jesus Christ is here urging His Father to set these men apart for His exclusive use and pleasure. He does not want them to be worldly or entangled by the world, the Satan-dominated evil world system. One cannot be on both sides of an intractable moral conflict. To that end, our Lord prayed for their sanctification. In John’s Gospel, such sanctification is always for ministry. God cleans individuals of their sinful contamination to prepare them for service. Thus, to be influenced by the world, to be worldly, is not to be sanctified. And to be sanctified refers to being distanced from the world’s evil influence and moral contamination so that you might serve God. How compatible this is with the Apostle Paul’s statement to the Ephesian congregation in Ephesians 2.10: 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” 

The Lord Jesus Christ stated it well when He said, in Matthew 12.30: 

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” 

His men are on His side by virtue of the new birth, and He wants His Father to place them on His side as a practical matter by separating them from the world and separating them unto Him.

Make no mistake. What the Lord Jesus Christ wanted for His eleven remaining apostles He wants for you and me. How can we know this for sure? 

1Co 1:30 

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” 

1Th 4:3    

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.” 

1Th 4:4    

“That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.” 

2Th 2:13 

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” 

1Pe 1:2   

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”  

Next, WHAT IS MEANT BY “SANCTIFY THEM” 

Remember that “sanctify,” ἁgiá½±son, is the imperative form of the Greek verb ἁgiá½±zw, to consecrate or set apart persons or things to God. The Lord Jesus Christ is here urging His heavenly Father to do this thing. But what thing is He urging? What does His prayer mean?

Since only the three Persons of the Triune Godhead are intrinsically holy, we recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ requested that His Father separate His eleven men unto Himself for exclusive and devoted service and ministry. The Lord Jesus Christ wanted His men set aside by God for His exclusive use. The Godhead is jealous (remember Exodus 20.5, “I the LORD thy God am a jealous God”), so the Second Person of the Godhead is jealous. He does not want to share you with anyone, and it is best for you and me when we and ours are all His. Wives discover the best husbands are Christ’s men and only Christ’s men. Husbands discover the best wives are Christ’s women and only Christ’s women. And on it goes. But by what means does the Lord Jesus Christ urge His heavenly Father to accomplish this sanctifying work in His remaining apostles’ lives?

To answer that question, let me introduce to you the phrase “means of grace.” A well-known theologian named Wayne Grudem describes the phrase “means of grace” as follows: “The means of grace are any activities within the fellowship of the church that God uses to give more grace to Christians.”[6] Among the varied activities within the congregation that God has given as a special way of imparting His grace to His people are including the following: 

  1. Teaching the Word
  2. Meditating on the Word
  3. Baptism
  4. The Lord’s Supper
  5. Praying for one another
  6. Gathered worship
  7. Church discipline
  8. The grace of giving
  9. Exercising spiritual gifts
  10. Fellowship within the membership
  11. Evangelism outside the membership
  12. The mutual care of members for one another 

The reason I bring up the matter of the “means of grace” is because although God sometimes answers prayer requests immediately, He also very frequently answers prayer requests through the use of means. What do I mean by that?

When I use the term “immediately,” I do not necessarily mean that God answers prayers instantly, but that there is no prescribed activity that He intends to take place after the prayer is uttered and before the prayer is answered. Immediate in that sense means nothing in between.

The farmer prays, “Dear Lord, please give us rain.” When the rain falls a week later in answer to the farmer’s prayer, that was an immediate answer to prayer in the sense that no activity was demanded by God or expected by God before He chose to answer the farmer’s prayer. God did not call for a rain dance as the means of the farmer’s prayer being answered.

However, when a young entrepreneur pleads that God will grant him success in his business venture, he will surely meet with failure when he spends most of his time sitting on his living room sofa, wasting time on social media. His prayer to God will not be answered in the affirmative apart from the use of means, meaning that his prayer will be answered by God only when he works hard, studies hard, burns the midnight oil, satisfies his customer base, and does everything in his power to do what his competitors do, but do it better. God’s answer to his prayer for success requires the use of means. God neither encourages nor rewards a lack of initiative.

With a more thorough grasp of this concept of means, look again at the first phrase of our text. The Lord urged His Father to 

“Sanctify them through thy truth.” 

The Lord Jesus Christ’s request to God the Father is a request that explicitly refers to the use of means. Did the Lord want His heavenly Father to sanctify His men? Yes. But He wanted His men to be sanctified by God by means of their immersion in the truth. This can be seen in the specific wording of the Greek phrase translated “through thy truth.” The Greek phrase reads ἐn tῇ ἁlhqeá½·á¾³, and means “in the truth.”

Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ in no way intended for His heavenly Father to merely snap His fingers and instantaneously render those men somehow separated onto God. No. His request that God sanctify them was a request that God sanctify them using a process that would occur with them being immersed in the truth.

Is it your desire to be a man who is dedicated unto God, separated unto God, useful to God? Is it your desire to be a woman who is dedicated unto God, separated unto God, and useful to God? Such a thing will never be your experience in answer to Christ’s prayer apart from your immersion in the truth. But how is your immersion in the truth to do you any good?

That, my friend, is where the concept of “the means of grace” comes in. One is not sanctified by being in a room that is completely full of some stuff called the truth, in the hope that truth will be diffused from the room where it is contained into your life and personality. It does not work that way. One is sanctified, separated unto God, and outfitted to be useful to Him, when the truth that you are immersed in is communicated to you over time so that it is spiritually ingested and digested on its way to being incorporated into your life and lifestyle. There is a process involved in producing the desired result. That process is the means of grace.

Allow me to rehearse how “the means of grace” is useful to this end. The truth is taught to you. But how can the truth be taught to you unless you have gathered with the saints, unless you are here, Hebrews 10.25? 

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” 

You then meditate on the truth.

Then there is the baptismal service, in which the Gospel is pictured before your eyes. There is also the communion of the Lord’s Supper when you are challenged to ponder the Lord’s death until He comes again. When you pray for one another, it is your plea to God for the spiritual benefit of another. In gathered worship, we exhort one another, Hebrews 10.25. When Church discipline is exercised, saved members are challenged to deal with their sins, and those discovered to be unsaved members are expelled to advance the Gospel. The grace of giving enables the Gospel to be advanced. The exercising of spiritual gifts enables each member to uniquely minister truth in a way he or she is equipped by the Spirit of God.

With discipleship, there is a modeling of truth in one’s life for the benefit of others. What sense does it make for the disciple to learn to stay home from Church by being discipled by a member who stays home from Church? No, discipleship is to show the disciple what ought to be done, not what ought not to be done. Evangelism, of course, is the ministry of Gospel truth imparted to those needing it most. And all of this occurs during the mutual care of members for one another. 

The point of that portion of the verse we have considered this morning can be summed up by the notion of personal holiness. Being set apart for God’s exclusive use, because God is a jealous God and Jesus is a jealous Savior. He wants you all to Himself.

In Leviticus 20.7, the LORD spoke to Moses, commanding the people, 

“Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.” 

In First Peter 1.15-16, we read, 

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 

Thus, we see that it has always been in the mind and heart of God for His people to be holy, in Old Testament times, in New Testament times, and in our time. But it is in our text for today that we see the means of accomplishing God’s desire for His people in the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ for His men. The use of means in God’s answer to Christ’s prayer shows beyond doubt that human responsibility, yours and mine, is part and parcel an element in God’s answer to Christ’s prayer.

You must decide concerning your immersion in the truth and your willingness to receive the truth as it is variously ministered to you to be holy and do what things are set forth in God’s Word to accomplish that goal of personal holiness. It begins with conversion to Christ, and it proceeds via believer baptism to Church membership. And in Church membership, the various means are used by you, including discipleship, to acquire what God has for you as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Do not settle for where you are comfortably situated at present as being where your Savior wants you to be for much longer.

__________

[1] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures In The New Testament, Vol V, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1932), page 279. See also Exodus 28.41; 29.1; 36; 40.13 and Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5.23).

[2] Gerhard Kittel, Editor, Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament, Vol I, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964), page 111.

[3] D. A. Carson, The Gospel According To John (PNTC), (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), page 565.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Jeremiah 1.5; Exodus 28.41

[6] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), page 1247.

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church