Jesus Prayed For Holiness
Pastor Zach Pummill • September 27, 2020
Sermon Overview
JOHN 17:13–19
Jesus prayed for us to be holy. We often think of holiness in ways that aren’t helpful or really central to what holiness truly means. Jesus prayed that we would be a people that are set apart and devoted to a life lived unto God. How are we to think about being holy and what does that look like corporately as God’s people?
Sermon Transcript
Good morning, and welcome to Rockwall Pres. If you're new at this, my name's Zach, I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm really glad that you're with us today. We hope you feel home here with our church family. We are back in John 17 this week, looking at the next part of Jesus's prayer, as we look to Jesus to guide us in a season of prayer here at Rockwall Pres. And so if we just kind of keep a tally, what have we seen Jesus pray for thus far in John 17?
Well, the first thing we saw is that Jesus prayed for his glory. Secondly, we saw that Jesus prayed for oneness. That we, as his people, would be one and brought into the fellowship and the communion, and oneness with the Godhead. That we'd have oneness with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And out of that, we would have oneness with one another as his people, and that we would be one as God is one.
So what do we see today that Jesus prays for? Well, quite frankly, Jesus prays for a lot in these passages or in these verses in particular. And it's conceptually, it's a very dense passage. There's a lot of words. I mean, you could essentially do a sermon series just by doing one verse at a time and never really cover the same topic twice in John 17, and especially in this section here. Because if we just tried to summarize what Jesus prays for in this section is that Jesus prays for holiness. Jesus prays for holiness. He prays that you would be holy. He prays that we would be holy.
Now, I get that may not make you just jump to the edge of your seat this morning in anticipation, because hearing Jesus pray for holiness is like getting socks for Christmas, right? You're glad to have them but there's a lot of other things that are at the top of your list ahead of socks. Like, "I wish Jesus would have prayed for a new job or I wish Jesus would have prayed for me to get out of debt. I wish Jesus would pray for me to have a new body that isn't riddled with chronic disease. I wish that Jesus would have prayed for a new boss." You know, the list goes on. And yet, what Jesus prays for is something very special. The problem is when we think about holiness in our context, it's just, it's negative. It's not something that has positive connotations. One, because we just kind of dilute it down. We dilute holiness to being just a good moral person that just kind of sucks all the fun out of the room; that their biggest fear is that somebody might laugh or have joy, right?
Or we think of it in negative terms where somebody has a holier-than-thou attitude. Someone that's snubs their nose at other people. A goody two shoes that always looks at other people in judgment. And so holiness in our context is not considered a compliment quite frankly. But the good news is, is that none of that is what Jesus is praying for here in this passage.
If we look at holiness in a different light this morning, how can we see it? What we see in verse 13, that Jesus prays that you would be Holy so that you might have joy. And not just any joy, that you would have his joy. And what does the Bible say about his joy? Well it's that his joy, Hebrews 12:2, that he, there was a joy set before him that allowed him to endure the cross. That "for the joy set before him, he endured the cross." That's no ordinary joy. It's the joy that was set before him, his joy that would allow him the willingness and the motivation to endure the crucifixion. That is the joy that Jesus desires for you and for me. And that sounds pretty good right about now. So when Jesus prays that we would be holy and that we would experience joy what in fact is he saying?
In the simplest terms he's praying that we would be different. He's praying that we would be different from the world. And that difference in this passage is marked by two things. It's marked by one, that we receive the truth and two, that we're sanctified by the truth. So we receive the truth and we're sanctified by the truth. It says in verse 14 that Jesus or Jesus says, "I have given them your word." And in verse 17, he says, "Your word is truth." So Jesus has given his disciples, he's given us truth. Truth from the Father. And truth is very important in Jesus or in Jesus's prayer. You see it come up quite a bit. It's also, it's like glory, it's something that's on his mind. Truth is very important to Jesus in his prayer because it's important to Jesus in his ministry. He said in John 8, he said, "If you abide in my word, then you will know the truth." And the truth will what? It will "set you free." The implication is that to not know the truth that Jesus has and the truth that Jesus teaches is that you are in bondage, and you're in bondage because you are a slave. Truth is important in Jesus's ministry. And it tells us here that as a result of receiving the truth, the world will hate the disciples and the world will hate us. Why is that? Well it's because Jesus is implying the fact that this world doesn't like the truth. This world hates the truth.
And I think if we all just stepped back I think we know that to be true, don't we? I think we've all experienced some of the world's hatred of truth. But just truth is something that's really hard to come by these days. It's become harder and harder and harder and harder to even know what's true. Over the last few months since March, I've had a number of conversations with people that have expressed frustration and just exhaustion and being overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information that's coming at us all the time. But not just that, it's the amount of contradictory information. All the ways that we're sold different things, all of the contradictory claims of truth. And so in our rapidly-changing, push-notification, constant-update, hot-take world, it's hard to even know who to trust anymore, isn't it? I mean, we've all experienced a million different studies that all say a million different things done by a million different experts. Have we not?
It's exhausting to try and sift through all of the information that avalanche that is the internet and even try and figure out what's true these days. And behind all of that, someone's getting paid for your attention. Your attention is big business. And part of getting your attention is eliciting an emotional response from you.
It was during the quarantine, I was up really late one night and had to finish up some work, and I got a random message from an extended family member. And they said, "Hey, I just wanted you to know this. I'm praying for the pastors that you know, and your friends in India." And I'm like, that's random. So I looked at what they sent me and they sent me a post that they'd found on social media about the fact that 200 Christian pastors had been kidnapped and were scheduled to be executed the following day in the Olisabang province of India. And I was like, "Oh my goodness, that's terrible." Then I got to thinking about it. I'm like, something's off. I'm like, "Olisabang, Olisabang..." That doesn't even sound Indian. Truth is, it's not. There's actually no place on earth called Olisabang. And as far as I know, they don't even call anything provinces in India, they call them districts and states.
So you do a little bit of research and you find that there's places that actually track the misinformation. They actually track where these things come from and how often they have a life cycle. And so it started in 2010 and then it came back around in 2012, came back around the last election cycle and then when the pandemic hit, it found new life. It got re-surged again. And so when you look at this post you see all of this outpouring of love and prayer and these people that are just like giving yourselves to it, and you see what happens in the power of a lie. Now, if all of that untruth can elicit and surround and all of their untruth bringing about an emotional response that surrounds something that's not even true, how much do you think would surround something that is true? An event that actually does happen? The truth that goes around one way or the untruth in the emotional responses that you are offered in this internet age where information and disinformation is incredibly powerful.
And it doesn't really appear to be ending anytime soon because we haven't even been introduced to what are called “deepfakes” yet. If don't know about deepfakes, you should look into them. Deepfakes are a technology that's really close to being almost mass produced, but it's not quite there yet. Deepfakes, it's an artificial intelligence that can take footage from any person. And they look at the data points and it can actually present and create a new video that makes it look as though somebody says anything that you want them to say. And you can't tell the difference between an actual deepfake and a video. And they're that close. They call it the new arms race. It's a new cold war, where you can't even tell whether or not somebody said something. And it's powerful because they know what? They know that nobody looks for truth, nobody looks to validate the claims of what was said. We look first and foremost, does the information match how I feel, right? And so there's no search for truth. And so they know that yeah, you can make a deepfake. They don't care if it's on the internet after six months, they just want that initial response. Because over time, you will not be able to differentiate in your mind and in your head, whether that emotional response you had was from a deepfake or actual real truth. That's powerful.
Why do I say all of this? I say it because we live in a world that only seems to be growing in its ability and its commitment to lie and manipulate you. And that's scary. We feel stuck in a world already of smoke and mirrors, of disinformation and half truths. It's exhausting to feel like you're constantly being spun, like you're a pawn in someone's game and you don't know what to believe. And we've arrived at a point culturally, where there's a tremendous amount of just doubt and skepticism and distrust. And we know that we're being lied to on a regular basis. And so of course, when people feel lied to, they get angry because they don't feel like anybody has their best interest in mind. And so people get angry and that feeds things called pandemics and politics and protests and counter-protests and comment sections on social media. If people feel lied to then of course they get angry because no one has their best interest at heart. And if that's true, then everyone has to look out for themselves. And it's scary to live in a world where truth isn't a priority. Because when you lose truth, then you no longer have a basis for justice. And when you lose justice, all you're left with is a fight for power. It's a jockeying for the upper hand. And that sounds so familiar these days.
And so when you look around at the world, do you feel frustrated? You just feel exhausted by it? Do you feel discouraged? Do you feel saddened? If so, there's good news. You're supposed to feel that way. You never... There's nowhere in the Bible that says you should look around the world and feel like everything is always going great. You should look around and just be like, "Oh, there's absolutely no reason that God should have to come and die." If we get to a place where we feel like the world's problems aren't that big of a deal, then how do we explain the cross? How do we explain a cross where God felt that he needed to come and die to remedy the world's problems as the only solution? If we take the world's problems and we think that they're small, than the cross of Jesus just becomes Divine Overkill, right? To look at the world and be discouraged is something that you're supposed to do, because these aren't new problems. If you look at Moses, you look at Jonah, you looked at Elijah, when they all looked around at the world and they saw the frustration that they had to deal with, that's called "humanity", Do you know what they asked? They asked God to kill them. All three of them. They asked God to take their life out of frustration and the angst that they felt.
These aren't new problems. Listen to Isaiah 59:14. It says, "Justice is turned back and righteousness stands far away. For truth has stumbled in the public squares and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice. And there was no one to intercede." What's true thousands of years ago is just as true today. And the reason you can be sad when you look around at the world is because it displeased God just as much. He looked around at the world and it displeased him that there was no justice, there was no one to intercede. And so part of what it means for us to be a Holy people means that we receive the truth, and part of receiving the truth means that we see the world the way that God sees it. And we're told in his word, John says elsewhere in 1 John 5:19, he says that "the world lies in the power of the evil one." This world lies in the power of the evil one. And what does Jesus say in John about the evil one? He says, he's the Father of lies. This world lies in the power of the Father of lies. One who doesn't value truth, who would distract, divide, and destroy.
And so receiving the truth means that we have to see the world as God sees it. Because if we don't then we will radically underestimate the problems in the world. And if we radically underestimate the problems in the world, then we have radically watered down the gospel. Because we'll think that truth is just simply a product of which channel you watch or we'll think that solving the world's problems just comes down to stringing a few election wins together. And yet God tells us over and over and over again that this world lies in the power of the Father of lies. And that the only way that truth can be brought into this world is when Jesus, truth itself, comes and dies on the cross so that you might know truth, so that you might know him. Because we live in a world that suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. And yet we're called into that world. Because what does Jesus pray for next?
In verse 14, it says, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not over the world." And so very quickly, what does that even mean for you? Well, what that means is if you believe in the words of Jesus, you sit here today and you say, "Jesus's words are truth to me." Like, I receive them as truth, then you are no longer of this world. You don't belong here anymore. Because for you to receive his words as truth means something magnificent and extraordinary has happened to you. That you have moved from a place of death to life, that you no longer belong here, you belong to another world. Your citizenship is not in this world. This is not home. You can look at it and not feel like everything's falling apart, because you don't belong here. You belong to another world. And it's a world where there is no fighting, there's no warfare, there's no anxiety, there's no stress, there's no threat, there's no enemy, there's only peace and justice and perfection and harmony, and filled with a multitude of people that would do anything for you, and you would do anything for them. It's the citizenship of the kingdom to which you belong. You don't belong here. You belong to another world.
And yet here we are, we're still in this world. And actually Jesus prays in verse 15 that we wouldn't be taken out of it. He says, "I pray that you would not take him out of this world but that they would be kept from the evil one." We remain in this world, they keeps us in this world and prays that we would stay in this world with purpose, for a reason. And part of that is that one, we would be protected from the evil one. And when we think about the evil one, we kind of tend to immediately think about spiritual attack or demonic activity or persecution. Obviously, those are very real things, but they don't get to the heart of how the evil one operates. They don't get to the heart of how the Father of lies works in the world and in our lives.
To see that you have to look at the temptations of both Adam and Jesus. The serpent comes to Adam and says what? Well, he says, "You should eat the fruit." Why? "Because God knows that when you eat of it, you'll be like him. God is withholding information from you. When you eat of it, you'll be like him. You'll know what he knows. It sounds to me like maybe he's holding you back. Sounds to me like maybe he's not being truthful with you. You need to eat it."
Then you get to Jesus. And the first temptation is to eat something. Serpent comes to him and says, "Turn these stones into bread." Why would the Father want you to go hungry? Why would the Father want you to fast and depend upon his word for 40 days? Why would a good Father want you to go without something? Why would a good Father want you to go hungry and starve?
And then the second temptation is to take Jesus up to the high place and say, why don't you fall down off the temple mount, off the top of the temple and see the masses, see or have the masses see you be rescued by angels. That'd be a pretty profound coming out party for your ministry. You should go and you should actually display yourself in a magnificent way to the world. But Jesus says, "No, that's not how the Father is determined for me to reveal who I am to the world."
And then lastly, he gets to where he takes Jesus up to see all the kingdoms of the world and he says, "I'll give you all of these Jesus if you just bow down and worship me." You can have all that the Father promises you, all the kingdoms of the world, all authority, all power, if you just bow down and worship me. And the good news is you don't ever have to go to the cross. I'll give it all to you. So if you put all of those four temptations together what's the common thread? The common thread is that the serpent essentially tries to get each of them, both of them to look out for number one.
And each of the temptations, they simply look to satisfy their own interests and their own desires without any consequence or thought to anybody else. It's just simply to live in a way where they are consumed by their own needs, their own desires and they're entirely focused on self. Or they are convinced that their needs and what they want is the most important thing in the world. That's who lies in... This world lies in the power of such a one that would convince us of that. And when we look around at the world that helps us make a little bit of sense that the default of this world is when everyone considers themselves the most important thing in the world. And when that happens, bad things happen. Do they not? He's the Father of lies.
And it doesn't even have to be a big lie it can be a small lie that will completely knock you off course for the rest of your life. A simple lie that makes you look at the world through how you are affected first and foremost. A lie, something like, you are your performance. You are the opinion of others. You are not worthy of love. You are what you own. You are being seen as the smartest, the brightest, the best. There's all sorts of lies that we are offered to believe and base our lives upon, but they're all otherwise centered upon ourselves.
And Jesus prays for more for us. He prays that we would be different. He prays in verse 17 that we would be sanctified by the truth. That we would be protected from the evil one, but that we would be sanctified by the truth. And sanctify just means that you would be set apart. You would be set apart for service and full devotion to this truth. The truth that a God came to you. Truth that God came to you whenever you were a sinner, you were an enemy and revealed himself to you. Chose you for himself, chose you before the foundation of the world and brought you into full fellowship, full communion into the Godhead itself. Full relationship and oneness with the Triune God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then God the Son would die to purchase that privilege and that gift for you.
Jesus is praying that that truth would be the truest thing about you and that you would know that deep in your heart. And your entire life would be organized and orient itself, and orbit around the gravity of that truth. That you would otherwise be fully devoted to that truth. Why? Because Jesus has big plans for his people. Because verse 18 says that, "Just as he was sent by the Father, so he sends us." He doesn't remove his people from the world. He sends his people into the world, the same way he was sent into the world. He sends them into a world armed with truth, and a world that knows only lies.
And he says in verse 19, he says "That he consecrated himself fully to the truth so that we too might be sanctified." So he devoted himself fully so that we too might be devoted. What's that saying? Well it's saying that in short it's the gospel. It means that God, when he looked upon the world in sadness, he didn't resent it. He didn't hate it. He didn't push it away. He didn't hold it in contempt. Instead, God, the Father set apart his Son, and God, the Son set apart himself. And they brought truth into the world so that you may know him. They brought truth to those that hated him. They brought truth to those that didn't want truth. They brought truth to those that are just like you and me that need something out of this world to come into this world, to wake us up to the lies of this world. And we cannot be the type of people that God would call us to be, to be a Holy people, whenever we look at the world and we hate it. Because it doesn't match how we feel, it doesn't match what we think. Because how can we be a people that exhibit the very life giving nature and truth bringing heart of God, if we just look at the world and we want it to die in its own lies. That's part of what it means to be a holy people, is that we would desire to be like Jesus. Because that's the very thing that Jesus prayed for. As the Father sent me so I send you.
And that frees us up to be able to look upon the world with some discouragement and some sadness and to realize that it is a broken place. It's a broken place in order to fix it it requires the death of God. And you hold that truth. You hold that truth that is the most precious thing in the world. And together we are called to take it to the world so that we, just like Jesus, who consecrated himself for our sake, we would offer ourselves for the sake of the world. And it's in this prayer that we are, or the season of prayer that we're praying that we would be a holy people. That would be different. We'd be set apart. Now we wouldn't go the way of the world but instead we would go the way of our Lord and our Savior. Who set himself apart for us therefore we too would set ourselves apart for the sake of one another and for the sake of the world around us. And we would devote ourselves fully to this God that desires us to know him and the world around us to know him as well.
And Jesus promises joy to us in that. But this is joy you can experience just because you hear about it. It's the type of joy that you can only experience when we devote ourselves fully and completely to him.
Let's pray together.
